Pour un garçon

The English really know how to do this. A lot of the motives are admittedly far-fetched and hard to believe, but its coolness is not something you’ll find anywhere else. The actors are amazing (especially the incredibly likeable Grant, whose picture I'd probably hang in my bathroom instead of a mirror if I were a woman), the narrative manages to come up with a witty and offbeat approach, and I haven't seen chemistry between characters work this well in a long time. 4* and a bit. (01/07/2012)

An excellently functional gem with a typically embellished sense of humor that clearly and loudly exclaims “I'm British!”, light, natural, and with an utter absence of sentiment. The brutally restrained dialogues and Hugh Grant’s brilliant performance were a pleasant surprise, it’s the first time I saw him not overflowing with awkwardness. The whole does not stumble – believe it or not – even once. Everything is topped off by an ending that is just as sharp and strong as the beginning. There are polished scenes that may not necessarily be explicitly funny, but it will be difficult to refrain from smiling at them. A small, yet entirely heartwarming affair. (29/08/2007)

A beautiful film that will make you laugh and move you while caressing your soul. I must admit that I would not have expected something so smart and subtle from the Weitz brothers. The casting is absolutely perfect and especially Hugh Grant as a self-centered bastard is simply flawless and proves that he has much more to offer as an actor. It's an outright delight to watch his facial expressions, and his performance is just clearly Oscar-worthy. As a matter of fact, it's one of the best films I've seen this year, and since I can't think of anything to fault it for, I give it five stars. (03/12/2002)

The character of Will is brilliant in every way, especially his thoughts. Gradually, though, he lapses into the dramatic side, which I found a bit stifling at times. For some of the supporting characters, I'd happily (and very gladly) change actors. In my book Will is worth the entire 3.5 stars for the film as a whole. (06/11/2012)

A very nice and pleasant surprise in the form of a conservative but observable and intelligent comedy about a lone hunter of girls' hearts and his gradual enlightenment through a boy's eyes. Hornby's cheerful poetics do a lot, there are essentially no awkward and kitschy moments, but the climax of the film is a perfect model of screenwriting chastity and cleverness. At his core, Hugh Grant's character is a fairly accurate and sensitive caricature of a man/hunter, and the other characters continue in a similarly believable spirit. A pleasurable addition to the film is the excellent music and very unobtrusive situational humor. Although I don't like Grant or the romantic comedy genre, About a Boy is a pretty rare symbiosis of heartfelt moments and satirical smirks. Very British, and this pleases me. (26/12/2006)