OxBlog

# Posted 4:40 PM by Ariel David Adesnik

HUGH GRANT NOT ANNOYING: In specific cases. As a general rule, I can't stand the man. But on Saturday night I rented About a Boy, the Hugh Grant film based on the Nick Hornby novel.

Above all, the movie is hilarious. Grant shows that he can do comedy with the best of them. But give plenty of credit to co-writers/co-directors/co-siblings Chirs and Paul Weitz, better known for the adolescent brilliance of American Pie.

The film also works because of Nicholas Hoult, who plays the boy (Marcus). It takes a damn good child actor to make this kind of script work, since it depends on real interaction between the kids and the adults. IMHO, Hoult demonstrates that Episode I might have been able to live up to the hype like if its script didn't call for Young Anakin to act like an idiot.

(I won't pass judgment on Haley Joel Osment, since I have to assume that he was doing what Lucas wanted. Besides, he was quite good in The Sixth Sense.)

[CORRECTION: Reader TG points out that Anakin was played by Jake Lloyd, not Haley Joel Osment. As such, I feel compelled to offer a heartfelt apology to Mr. Osment, whom I never intended to slander in such a spiteful and malicious way. Looks like OxBlog ought to stick to politics...]

One extra fun thing about watching About a Boy was that I was watching it with a friend in her way-too-hip flat in Islington, the same London neighborhood where much of the film takes place. For once in my life, I felt like a legitimate resident of this lovely island rather than an interventionist cowboy.

Last but not least, check out the soundtrack by Badly Drawn Boy as well as any other film with Rachel Weisz in it. It's not every day that you say yourself: "I can't believe she's not a shiksa."

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