About a Boy

An unalloyed delight. The Weitz brothers (of "American Pie" fame, of all things) bring Nick Hornby's comic novel to hilarious life with the help of an exceptional cast. Hugh Grant plays idle, self-absorbed Will, who finds his whole worldview upended by Marcus (Nicholas Hoult), a precocious but marginalized 14-year old, and his depressed mother Fiona (Toni Collette). If the message--that people need people--is a bit prosaic, the genuine humor and humanity with which the filmmakers imbue the characters are worth it.