No man is an island. No man is a loner. No man is alone. Yet somehow Will believed he was an island, and that he could live alone, by himself. But of course, this movie should have been entitled 'About A Man', not 'About A Boy', because in fact, it is about a boy. It's about a boy who came into this man's life and proved to him that no man is indeed an island.
This is really a wonderful film - and since I've been writing so many critiques now, I shall speak here sincerely - I mean wonderful, like really wonderful. Truly fascinating and heartwarming, a kind of film that would make you laugh, smile, cry and strike the bottom of your heart. So rare this kind of film comes with pefectly tossed in British humour, drama, romance, family dilemmas, and every little thing that would make your heart ache and eventually triumph at its best in the end. About A Boy is this film, and knowing that this movie had one element that most movies lack nowadays - the brilliant writing - makes the ride worth it. It is brilliantly written, comically funny, but at the same time endearing. All you have to do what each character has to say, and you'll find out why. Not only the very good script that the movie had but also, much of the film's credits goes to the actors and directors. Yes, there are two directors of this film, Paul Weitz and Cris Weitz. They're absolutely genius directors and they bring so much into this film like a personal diary that you could really feel its realistic edge on it, the heartache it causes and the magnificence it brings, especially about the sensitive matter called life. More so, the actors. Hugh Grant is fantastic and I think as I have seen his other movies except Four Weddings and a Funeral, this rises above his other performances. OK, he is a charming man and there's such a British silliness in him but upon watching this film, you could see a very fine actor coming out of him. And for God's sake, will somebody stand up and applause to this impressive newcomer Nicholas Hoult who had done a great job as Marcus! He's definitely a good actor too, for a newbie like himself. Toni Collette on the same note was pretty entertaining as Marcus's suicidal mother. She's at her best and did blend into the role effortlessly. I enjoyed her spiffing acting and her ridiculous over-the-top oh-so-emotional single-mom role.
Well, I'm not the kind of person who does critiques and give away so many spoilers, but anyway, just let me have a brief recap of the story and I would appreciate also if you would let me pour over to what I think of the story. Hugh Grant plays Will, who's a self-centered bastard, as what his former girlfriends say. He was a kind of man who liked to live alone, who shies away from responsibilities, and only knew about buying shoes, playing pools, listening to music and watching a TV like there's no tomorrow, and oh - he's a man who thinks marriage is for unfortunate lousy losers. Yet he dates girls just for fun. Meet the boy, Marcus (played by Nicholas Hoult) - geek, loner, loser, momma's boy, prey to school predators. He was always being bullied at school, being throwned by hard materials and being bumped here and everywhere like he's some part of the air. Yet he ignores of all of this, and there's one scene where I was so amazed by his character when Will asked him why can't he make such a thing to stop all this 'being bullied' stuff. He stiffened and said "I can't do anything. It's part of life, wasn't it?" I think this character brings so much brightness in this film because behind the geekiness, there's so much intelligence and so much maturity that a few young people ever had. And he has a Mum who's not so sure about life itself and wanted to commit suicide. And he has a father who turns up every year, only at Christmas, leaving him very alone to deal by himself.
But fate turned their lives very differently. These two very different people were meant to meet and change each other's lives. The child introvertly wanted a father. The man doesn't think that he ever wanted a child. Two different lives. Two different situations. One single thread bringing them together. With soooo much humor (yes, I laughed most at the times) and so much human drama, it's unquestionable why this film could touch human lives. That's the secret of how films could be poweful sometimes. For some, this film would appear as simple and ordinary, but for me, I think it comes out originally, fresh and poignantly attaching. It's a kind of film that makes your mind settle to one thing after the credits roll. The rating says it all.

Rating: A+