About a Boy: B+

Meet Will (Hugh Grant), he's a man who never really grew up. He never had to do normal adult things (he lives off an inheritance) like get a job, stay in a relationship, or have kids. Instead he got to do all the things kids do......but he's still doing them. He is, in essence, the Peter Pan of London. The problem is that he isn't just childish, he's blank. He is, in his own words, "an island" and it shows. He may be a charming, gleaming man but underneath it all is, well, nothing.

Meet Marcus (Nicholas Hoult), he's the boy that we all made fun of in elementary school for being entirely too geeky, for saying "I love you" in public, and for dancing when he can obviously be seen. He is, in a sense, "an island" as well, but not because he lives alone. It's because he isn't attached to the chains of society like the rest of his vacuous, youth-obsessed, compatriots are.

About a Boy is a movie that revolves around these two characters; how they shape each others lives and let themselves be shaped. Quite a feat for a pair who could just care less. Written and directed by Paul and Chris Wietz (the pair behind American Pie), About A Boy is best seen as two things: a captivating fairy tale and an effortless comedy.

When Marcus' mom Fiona (Toni Collette) tries to off herself he has to look for a new authority figure and in steps Will. Or, rather, Marcus yanks him in by the arm. They become friends, they become family and, in the end, they help show one another than growing up doesn't have to be so bad. The joy of it is though, is that it doesn't come off as kitsch. It's the anti-Hallmark but it leaves you with that same cozy feeling.

Hugh Grant, lacking those annoying romantic comedy ticks that makes him so irritating, jumps around with a disheveled, older look. He's cynical to know end but too charming to say it and he's just plain tired of a life he's only ever heard of. It's a performance that makes the movie. Close behind is Nicholas Hoult, a boy who plays his character with absolutely no remorse, he's not scared to be geeky at all.

I don't quite know what's with the parenting issues the boys both have and the climax isn't as soul-filling (it's more soul-lite) as it wants to be but these are minor quibbles. A comedy this warm and witty is a rarity in our romantic times. Drink it down slowly then come back for seconds.