One of my favourite movies of all time is About a Boy (2002) directed by Chris and Paul Weitz. The movie is an adaptation of the best-selling book of the same title written by Nick Hornby. Don't let the title misleadyou though – it is not a typical soppy and mushy chick flickreserved for women in their late 20s and early 30s who own a cat and indulge inchocolate and ice-cream. About a Boy is a movie (and a book) that addressesdifficult subjects such as depression in a witty and accessible way that can be of interest to both female and male viewers (readers).
The plot revolves aroundthe lives of two characters, a single middle-aged guy called Will (Hugh Grunt) and a 12-year-old boy named Marcus (amazing Nicholas Hoult) who meet unexpectedly through Will's date.
WARNING: There might be spoilersin the following descriptions (but no major ones).
Will is a cool guy. He knows how to pickclothes, shoes, music and haircuts. He lives in a typical bachelor pad filled with fancygadgets and posters of his favourite musicians. Will doesn't have a real job and lives off royaltiesfrom a Christmas song that his dad wrote ages ago. When it comes to relationships, Will is a bit of a heartless jerk who can't commitand therefore prefers to date single mothers who often have commitment issuesthemselves. I personally love how Will divides his days into 30-minute units of time.
Will: I find the key is to think of a day as units of time, each unit consisting of no more than thirty minutes. Full hours can be a little bit intimidatingand most activities take about half an hour. Taking a bath: one unit; watching Countdown: one unit; web-based research: two units; exercising: three units; having my hair carefully dishevelled: four units.
Will: She couldn't stay at my place, and she didn't have a DVD or satellite or cable, so we were always stuckwatching some crap made for TV movie about a kid with leukemia. I had to end it.
Marcus is a weirdkid. He lives with his mum and like her he is a vegetarian and listens to Joni Mitchell. Marcus is a loner. He doesn't really have friends his age. At school he is called names and sometimes attacked with footballs. Marcus has a weird tendency to sing in public without noticingand for that he is often bulliedby his classmates. What I love most about Marcus is how hard he tries to understand the adult world and how heroic he can be when it comes to his mum, despitenot having an easy life.
Marcus: I think I killed a duck.
Marcus: Suddenly I realized: two people isn't enough. You need backup. If you're only two people, and someone drops off the edge, then you're on your own. Two isn't a large enough number. You need three at least.
I highly recommend watching the movie and/or reading the book just to see how these two perceivelife, interpret love and how they start to rub off on each other.
GLOSSARY:
to mislead – zmylić
soppy– ckliwy
mushy– ckliwy, łzawy
a chick flick – a film about relationships, romance, etc. that attracts mainly women
to indulge in – tut. objadać się (to allow yourself or another person to have something enjoyable, especially more than is good for you)
to address something – poruszać (temat) (deal with a matter or problem)
witty– dowcipny, błyskotliwy
accessible– przystępny
the plot – fabuła
to revolve around – koncentrować się wokół czegoś
someone'sdate – tut. osoba, z którą idzie się na randkę
spoilers– szczegóły, które zdradzają treść filmu, serialu, książki itp. (a published piece of information that divulges a surprise, such as a plot twist in a movie)
major – znaczne, ważne
major – znaczne, ważne
to pick – wybierać
a haircut – fryzura
a bachelor pad – mieszkanie kawalera (a flat where a man who is not married lives)
fancy– drogie
royalties– honorarium, tantiemy
to commit – angażować się
commitment issues – problemy z zaangażowaniem się w związku
a unit of time – jednostka czasu
intimidating– przytłaczający
Countdown– a British game show involving word and number puzzles
web-based research – szukanie informacji w internecie (research – badanie)
to carefully dishevelled – starannie czochrane
cable (TV) – kablówka
be stuck – tut. być skazanym
crap– shit
leukaemia– białaczka
weird– dziwny
a loner – samotnik
be called names – być przezywanym
without noticing – bezwiednie (notice – spostrzec)
to bully– znęcać się, dręczyć, tyranizować
despite–pomimo
backup– zaplecze, wsparcie
to drop off the edge – znikać
to perceive – postrzegać
to rub off on somebody – dosł. udzielać się komuś, tut. wpływać na siebie ( If a quality or characteristic that someone has rubs off, other people begin to have it because they have been with that person and learnt it from them)
