7/10 -> B-

It's a very good movie. The performances in it are really good (especially Aaron Johnson in lead role), but I'm afraid that for me Lennon's childhood isn't the most interesting biographic story I've seen. I did feel like the movie was a bit cold at times and the feeling didn't fit with the whole rock'n'roll and rebellious youth setting. Take out the fact this is Lennon we're talking about and this is pretty much a straight growing up/identity drama we've seen before and there are better ones. Last year's similar An Education was a much more compelling piece with slightly better performances.

Luckily the movie doesn't use the fact this is Lennon's childhood to cheap effects of using Beatles songs and Lennon's popularity to somehow prop up the movie in unnecessary kitsch. I actually give it credits for being an earnest look at the subject matter.

I kinda don't understand how you say it is a "very good movie", yet give it a B-, heh.

F= bad
D= passable
C= good
B= very good
A= excellent

Those would be descriptive grades on my letter/number grades. Thus B- is still very good.

A nice film. Despite its subject matter--John Lennon's turbulent youth and the formation of the Beatles--it's closer in feel to An Education or the underrated Cemetery Junction than The Doors or Almost Famous. Which is to say it's a compact and elegant British coming-of-age drama. There are a few pop culture references laced throughout--the film begins with "A Hard Day's Night"’s iconic opening guitar chord, Lennon is seen learning "Maggie Mae" (the traditional Liverpool folk song later heard on Let It Be)--but, for the most part, the film steers clear of the iconic and concentrates on universal emotions. The word "Beatle" is never even said.

Aaron Johnson delivers a solid performance. There is no striking resemblance between the late Beatle and the Kick-Ass star, but he nails the voice and, for the most part, the wry attitude we associate with Lennon. Kristin Scott Thomas, as the level-headed, stern aunt who raised Lennon, and Anne-Marie Duff, as his real mother, the mercurial Julia, are both superb. Though I wonder how close the film version of Julia is to the real Julia. She is depicted as a full-on undiagnosed manic depressive, and there is also a potent sexual undercurrent in several of her scenes with John and his teenage friends; the film never addresses it, but I am confident it's intentional. The other performance of note is Thomas Sangster, very good as young Paul McCartney. I wish there were more scenes between him and Johnson's Lennon.

Overall, this is a good movie. It won't blow minds, but it doesn't seem to want to. It delivers an entertaining, well-acted portrait of the artist as a young man and will be of particular interest to Beatles fans.

B+

Where in the hell was Ringo?!?


In a sudden unexpected resurgence in the popularity of the glossy docudrama this Fall, comes the one-two punch of The Social Network and Nowhere Boy.

Fortunately, the latter is a far better film...

...at least for the first four-fifths of it's running time.

Nowhere Boy gives it the old college try, but impotently can't quite finish the job. (Perhaps best, given it's Oedipal urges.) The final act betrays the preceding vibrant energy with which a life is given life.

Still, I enjoyed the damn thing...

The period music, for one thing, was spec-frackin-tac-ular!

The performances were solid apery all around.

The art direction was spot on.

It's just that unlike it's famous subject, this film can't quite sustain the driven rhythm till the end...


4 out of 5.

Hahahahaaha.

I think more boggling would be how Gunslinger gives 99% of the movies he sees a B+ or better.

Oh, fuck off.

If you want to argue a specific point regarding Nowhere Boy, or any other movie I happen to love/enjoy, then fine, have at it. Otherwise, well, re-read what I said above.

NOWHERE BOY - 8/10 (A-)

Loved this! Aaron Johnson and Anne-Marie Duff were fantastic.

Nowhere Boy may not be full of music, but it is a strong chronicle of John Lennon's teenage life. After playing a quirky, nerdy teen in Kick-Ass, Aaron Johnston definitely shows his acting chops here as the young Lennon. It keeps its humor in there, but when the film gets very serious it keeps its impact. It keeps shocks coming, even if you know Lennon's story, and its ending is heartwarming. Not growing up personally with The Beatles, I still found this film to be one of the best music based ones in recent time. A definite film to check out on DVD. ***1/2