The Loud Bassoon

About a Boy (2002)
Directed by Chris Weitz and Paul Weitz
Written by Peter Hedges

Extremely sweet movie about a vacant man-child (Hugh Grant) who is befriended by a young boy (Nicholas Hoult) whose mother (Toni Collette) has just tried to commit suicide. That sounds pretty bleak now that I have written it out, but it's exceedingly funny and full of heart. Not the typical Hugh Grant movie, for a Hugh Grant movie.

Based on Nick Hornby's novel, the movie is as hip as High Fidelity but unlike that film, it's not only hip. The characters are well-written and the direction fluid and purposeful – it's impossible not to care. In fact, it's damn near impossible not to cry, unless you're one of those sad fucks who can't cry, 'cause yer dad was such a hardass or whatever.

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Loud Bassoon rating scale

Review by Wallace Beeswax


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