About a Boy

Having acquired a taste for playing against type from his spot-on performance as an overconfident office scoundrel in Bridget Jones's Diary, Hugh Grant really sinks his teeth and his spiky new haircut into his starring role as an even more callous cad in About a Boy. Will (Grant) is a deliberately aimless 38-year-old London playboy who, in the course of dating single moms and taking advantage of their sexual and emotional vulnerability, meets and befriends a fatherless 12-year-old dork (Nicholas Hoult). Helping the boy develop self-esteem and social skills, Will begins to recognize and dislike his own shallow nature. Based on the novel by the sardonic Nick Hornby (High Fidelity) and directed by brothers Paul and Chris Weitz (American Pie), the film admittedly succumbs to the inevitable warm fuzzies in the last act, but weighed against the wonderful dry wit and Grant's nifty performance, this hardly matters. Recommended. [Note: DVD extras include commentary by co-directors Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz, an 11-minute "Spotlight on Location" making-of featurette, 14-minutes of deleted scenes, the music videos “Silent Sigh” and “Something to Talk About” by British musician Badly Drawn Boy (a.k.a. Damon Gough) and a 21-minute featurette on the artist, the complete lyrics of the film's fictional song “Santa's Super Sleigh,” a three-minute “English to English” text dictionary (with movie clips), production notes, cast and crew film highlights, a trailer and DVD-ROM features. Bottom line: a fine extras package for one of 2002's best films.] (R. Blackwelder)