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About a Boy

About a Boy

Drama · Comedy · Romance · 2002

Will Freeman is a good-looking, smooth-talking bachelor whose primary goal in life is avoiding any kind of responsibility. But when he invents an imaginary son in order to meet attractive single moms, Will gets a hilarious lesson about life from a bright, but hopelessly geeky 12-year-old named Marcus. Now, as Will struggles to teach Marcus the art of being cool, Marcus teaches Will that you're never too old to grow up.

Movie details

About a Boy

“Growing up has nothing to do with age.”

2002 Drama · Comedy · Romance 1h 41m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.7 / 10

Community rating

Will Freeman is a good-looking, smooth-talking bachelor whose primary goal in life is avoiding any kind of responsibility. But when he invents an imaginary son in order to meet attractive single moms, Will gets a hilarious lesson about life from a bright, but hopelessly geeky 12-year-old named Marcus. Now, as Will struggles to teach Marcus the art of being cool, Marcus teaches Will that you're never too old to grow up.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over About a Boy?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Romance · 2020

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Dating Amber

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Comedy · 2020

Eddie and Amber decide to stage a relationship in order to stop everyone speculating about their sexuality. Eddie is keen to follow his dad into the military, while Amber dreams of moving to the liberal hub of London. The plan seems solid, but as their arrangement begins to fall apart, Eddie’s denial gets deeper as Amber realizes that a perilous future awaits her best friend unless she intervenes.

The Object of My Affection

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Laggies

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Comedy · 2014

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Chris Weitz · Paul Weitz

Written by

Chris Weitz · Paul Weitz · Peter Hedges

Hugh Grant

Hugh Grant

Will Freeman

Nicholas Hoult

Nicholas Hoult

Marcus Brewer

Toni Collette

Toni Collette

Fiona Brewer

Rachel Weisz

Rachel Weisz

Rachel

Natalia Tena

Natalia Tena

Ellie

Victoria Smurfit

Victoria Smurfit

Suzie

Augustus Prew

Augustus Prew

Ali

Court is in session

Put About a Boy on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.