About a Boy

About a Boy is an Academy Award-nominated 2002 English film directed by brothers Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz, based on the book of the same name by Nick Hornby. The film stars Hugh Grant as Will, Nicholas Hoult as Marcus, Toni Collette as Fiona and Rachel Weisz as Rachel. An interesting aspect of the movie is the use of double voice-over narration, where, at crucial moments in the plot as well as the introduction, the audience can follow Will's as well as Marcus's thoughts.


Plot

Will Freeman (Hugh Grant) is a content, willingly unemployed Londoner in his late thirties who lives comfortably off the royalties of his father's lucrative one-hit wonder Christmas tune. He compares himself to the party island Ibiza, because he believes he is enjoying his life at its fullest and that, contrary to John Donne's aphorism (which he misattributes to Jon Bon Jovi, perhaps intentionally), some men are islands. He keeps himself occupied by shopping, playing snooker alone, smoking cigarettes, drinking scotch and having his hair "carefully disheveled." He dates often, but has never had a relationship last longer than two months. Will acts rather childishly and refuses to take responsibility or care for anybody apart from himself and while shallow, it's a fact he's happy to live with even though his friends (who have all noticed) have all gone on to raising families and building careers.

Pretending he has a son called Ned, Will joins a single parents' group called "SPAT" (Single Parents Alone Together) in order to meet single mothers, a demographic which he believes provides easy sex and "lots of ego massage". There he comes across Suzy, a single mum, whom he manages to invite on a date. On the date she is accompanied by Marcus, the son of her friend and single mum Fiona, who is an eccentric, vegetarian hippy. Twelve-year-old Marcus is an outsider, the kid who dresses weirdly and has no friends. On that day, Will, Suzy and Marcus go to the park and Marcus accidentally kills a duck (by throwing an entire loaf of bread at it). When a park keeper takes notice, Will covers for Marcus and they get out of the situation unscathed. They return to his house, to discover that his mother has tried to kill herself. The three rush her to the hospital and she survives.

Marcus feels that it would cheer up his depressive mother if she had a boyfriend, so he cons Will into taking the two of them out for a meal. The two do not hit it off, but Marcus begins coming over to Will's flat, who always turns him away. Marcus, after following Will about the area for a day or two, discovers that Will had lied and does not have a son called Ned. Using this against Will, he blackmails him into letting him visit every day after school to watch television. This gradually becomes a routine and in turn, the two begin to bond with one another. Gradually, Will and Marcus become friends, and Will endeavours to help the perennially teased Marcus to blend into the crowd. Needless to say, spending time with each other starts to change both of them, Will in particular.



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LINK TO MOVIE
http://www.veoh.com/videos/v153800865B5694M