When I can empathize with a character in a film, like Marcus Brewer (Nicholas Hoult) in About a Boy (2002), then the production is more likely to be enjoyed by this Catholic reviewer.  The movie speaks to one of the truths of Christianity: that we are called to live in community with one another.  It underscores how there are varieties of communities, but they all serve the same function.  Everyone you see in this movie is starved for that human interaction.  I saw myself in Marcus because I, too, was bullied in school.  I experienced the isolation of not only being bereft of friends, but having your schoolmates specifically avoid you for being different.  Who had a nickname the same as a Sesame Street (1969-present)?  The same person who is about to bring you this discussion of About a Boy.  While you read the synopsis, know that this is a window into my childhood, if in a limited sense.

The person who knows no limits in About a Boy is Will Freeman (Hugh Grant).  As he later claims, he does nothing.  He is referring to his employment status, living off the royalties of one of the most popular Christmas songs ever recorded.  He also thinks of himself as an island, and is happy with his wayward lifestyle.  He never sticks around in a relationship for long, something his friend, Christine (Sharon Small), notes with regularity.  The argument could be made that he is unfit for anything other than pleasing himself, and that is also brought to the fore when Christine and her husband ask him to be the godfather of their newborn, which he flatly refuses.  Speaking of parenthood, or at least the idea of it, Will encounters a new source of dates when he inadvertently goes out with a single mother.  Their eagerness for something outside of their duties is something he takes advantage of, going out with several before he finds the Single Parents All Together (SPAT) group.  They are exactly what the name suggests, and mostly women.  This is how Will meets Suzie (Victoria Smurfit), them agreeing to spend time together after the session.  Part of the reason she agrees to do so is because she thinks he has a child of his own, which he does not.  On the day of their planned picnic, his pretend toddler is, of course, unable to come.  In addition to her own child, Suzie brings Marcus.  I would refer you to my brief description of him in the introduction, and we know this by now because the film splits time between Marcus and Will, with each character narrating their respective lives.  Their outing in the park does not go well, with Marcus accidentally killing a duck with the loaf of bread made by his mother, Fiona Brewer (Toni Collette).  Fiona and Suzie are co-members of SPAT, but Fiona had been feeling down of late.  As such, Fiona had asked Suzie to look after Marcus for a day.  However, when they return to the Brewer flat, they find Fiona nearly dead, the result of an attempted suicide.  Though Marcus is understandably shaken by the experience, he ponders his mother’s depression and wonders what could be done to help the situation.  His solution is that there needs to be more people in their lives, and he asks Will to take him and his mom out for lunch.  It is evident that Fiona and Will are ill-suited for one another, but Marcus finds the committed bachelor interesting.  Hence, when Will is saying goodbye and says that he will see them around some time, Marcus takes it as given and starts visiting Will every day.  At first, Will is defensive of his solitude, but eventually accepts the inevitability of the visits and even enjoy them.  Further, he takes at least a big brotherly role to the socially inept kid, purchasing Marcus better shoes in order to better fit in at school.  The ploy does not work and he comes home from class one day shoeless and crying.  This is when Fiona learns that Marcus had been daily going to Will’s place, which is not the usual behavior for a twelve-year-old.  She confronts Will while he is out to eat with Christine.  He defaults to his normal reaction, thinking that his friendship with Marcus is over.  Yet, it is pointed out to Will that he cannot just cast off the boy.  With this, he is invited to the Brewers for Christmas, which he attends against his better judgement.  Despite his misgivings, he has a good time.  The family setting, strange as it is, appeals to him.  It is with this in the back of his mind that he meets Rachel (Rachel Weisz) on New Year’s Eve.  The attraction is instant, but he is seeing her as a lasting relationship instead of a one-night stand.  During their conversation, the topic of Marcus comes up, and she assumes that he is Will’s son.  Will does not correct her, and instead of being truthful, he leans into the lie, bringing Marcus when they visit her apartment.  Eventually, Marcus convinces Will that honesty is the best policy.  Will attempts this over dinner one evening, but tries to move past it as soon as it is admitted.  It is not so much the dishonesty that hurts her as his inability to come up with a good explanation for it.  Feeling deflated, he leaves.  Around the same time, Fiona has another bout of depression, and Marcus seeks Will’s assistance.  Will is not in the mood for such requests, and angrily tells Marcus to depart.  It does not take Will too long to realize what a good friend Marcus has been, and so he goes to talk to his mother.  In doing so, Will is told that Marcus is about to sing in front of the school in order to cheer up his mother.  Will believes this will be terrible for Marcus’ social standing, and rushes to the school with Fiona to help.  Will’s assistance comes in the form of playing backup guitar with Marcus.  Rachel’s son goes to the same institution, and she sees Will’s gesture and is impressed.  The film concludes with everyone together the following Christmas, happy for the company.

Actually, the line Will uses at the end of About a Boy is that he still believes every man is an island.  What he has learned is that it is okay to let others onto your shores occasionally.  As I discussed in the introduction, this idea has a Catholic parallel.  The Bible and The Catechism of the Catholic Church, which is based on the Bible, agree that, to use the film’s parlance, no man is an island.  Indeed, one of the first things it says in the Book of Genesis is that it is not good for man to be alone.  Will spends a lot of time espousing the supposed benefits of being alone, which mainly reinforce his selfishness.  I do not think you need to be reminded that selfishness is not Godly behavior.  The Catechism feeds into this notion by talking about it in terms of community.  In the first paragraph, I mentioned how there are all sorts of communities.  The final scene in the movie bears this out.  Pretty much everyone I discussed in the synopsis is there, which does not make for your usual holiday meal.  When applying this concept to Catholicism, the typical form it takes in many people’s minds are monasteries full of monks and nuns.  To be fair, there is nothing wrong with such a definition.  However, there are also cloistered and non-cloistered groups, sets of priests living together, and even lay people forming their own versions of these societies.  The point is that God did not make us all the same, and we should be accepting of the kind of gathering you see at the end of the movie.  They are happy for the company, just like God is happy for your company.  Getting together in this way is a reflection of that happiness.

I was happy to watch About a Boy for the first time in over twenty years.  I had forgotten how enjoyable it is, though there are some tricky moments.  All the same, this one gets my recommendation.