About a Boy (2002) - 2nd time

Nominated for 1 Academy Award:

Best Adapted Screenplay

 

I love this film, even more now, after 15+ years. 😊 It’s a feel-good comedy, with a lot of heart, with a bit of drama and some great acting - and not just the two boys, though Nicolas is great, but also Toni Collette (where’s her Oscar nomination for this?) and the rest of the supporting players.

While it follows the structure of a standard comedy, it’s much more than that and mostly because of the writing. I haven’t read the book, but the screenplay’s great, nuanced, not afraid of taking small risks and somehow putting together the storylines to create a very cohesive comedy. Hugh is wonderful, of course, but it’s a group effort more than a one-star vehicle.

And let’s say how unusual it is for a commercial romantic comedy like this to get an Adapted Screenplay nomination (a category usually filled with dramas), and it deserved it. The stupid scene with the duck…

 

I give it: 9/10

IMDB LINK