Cady's Take:

Will's life catapults into uncharted territory when he discovers a brand new world of women waiting to be conquered - single mothers. Inventing a 2 year-old son named Ned- Will makes a connection with Suzie at a single parents meeting. Their first date is intruded upon when they are joined by Marcus, (Nicholas Hoult) the 12 year-old son of Suzie's good friend, Fiona (Toni Collette). Newcomer Hoult is a revelation, a genuine find. He looks unlike any other child actor around. Ironically, his character Marcus makes a reference about trying "to be more like Haley Joel Osment"

Grant’s interactions with Hoult are touching and comical, hitting just the right notes at all the right moments. About a Boy builds its comedy successfully by observing Will's initial inability to handle Marcus, and by emphasizing the innocence with which Marcus judges Will's extreme idleness.

About a Boy is most winning not when it plays with Will's disinterest in love, but when it examines Marcus' need for it. The film ends on a note of heartwarming humor and self-realization, and it gave me a warm feeling of joy and giddiness. Anyone looking for laughs with just a gentle pull on the old heartstrings won't find anything better than "About a Boy."

"Sometimes two isn't enough, you need backup". The danger of making one person your entire world is that if they let you down, you often find it hard to pick yourself back up.

My deep and abiding love of all things Hugh Grant is finally vindicated with “About A Boy” – a movie that even people who hate Hugh Grant will love.

Hugh Grant plays Will, a selfish, unemployed ladies man who lives off royalties from a Christmas jingle his father wrote long ago – and the sound of which makes him cringe. He has every toy and convenience known to man and prefers meeting women at support groups for single parents (he has no children – unless you count the imaginary son he creates.) Unlike his other charming rogues, Hugh Grant has created a character with some edge. Will is superficially happy and does not suddenly awake but slowly comes round to the idea that his life might not be all that it could.

I found Hugh Grant’s performance to be entertaining and authentic. He has a great foil in Marcus, the 12-year-old who is determined to find happiness for his mother – and does so, but not in the way he intends. I love Toni Collette and she is wonderful here as Marcus’ emotionally unstable mother, but it is Nicholas Hoult’s performance as Marcus that really steals the show so to speak. He is intelligent, adorable, and emotionally on point throughout the film. What makes “About A Boy” so endearing is perhaps – as we watch – we feel that not only Will, but Hugh Grant as well, is experiencing some personal growth. I like that in an actor.