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Wednesday, June 2, 2010

[5.50/10] Nowhere Boy (2009)


Nowhere Boy (2009)

Short review: This is Sam Taylor Wood's drama about John Lennon's teenage years and relationship with his errant mum, Julia and his aunt, Mimi. "Nowhere Boy" feels a bit overlong and it is mainly padded out with tedious scenes of banal domesticity portraying John's rebelliousness, his mother's immaturity and flightiness, and his prim aunt's strictness. The acting is spot-on, and definitely film's only saving grace. Aaron Johnson, Kirsten Scott Thomas and Anne-Marie Duff, all work together to create a triumvirate of acting perfection - each part is entirely naturalistic and believably-portrayed. Though the first half of the film is slow and flat, the intensity of the second half makes up for it, although the film is let down by a descent into sentimentality towards the very end. "Nowhere Boy" ranges between great and mediocre, but at the end, it's just OK look at John Lennon's adolescent life.

  • My Rating: 5.50/10
  • Rotten Tomatoes: 84% (6.8/10)
  • IMDb: 7.0/10

5 comments:

DEZMOND said...

I must admit THE BEATLES, John Lennon, drugs and rock'n'roll ... are the topics that have absolutely no interest for me.

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

It's worth-seeing only for Aaron Johnson, Kirsten Scott Thomas and Anne-Marie Duff's performances. They were all terrific. I thought you like Aaron a lot? :)

DEZMOND said...

Actually I like Anne-Marie Duff a lot, she was the star of the famous British mini series THE VIRGIN QUEEN about Elizabeth I, the one with stunning Bulgarian music (which is crazy considering it's English history, but what do they know :))
Anne is married to another guy I adore - James McAvoy and is a great friend with yet another guy we all love - Tom Hardy :)

Jaccstev said...

Haven't seen it maybe because it's not my thing. I'm quite enjoyed Beatles songs though.

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Obviously it wasn't my thing either :) Well, the performances saved it from being terrible.