May 12, 2010

Nowhere Boy

Nowhere Boy (2009)


Directer by Sam Taylor Wood. Starring Aaron Johnson, Kristin Scott Thomas, Anne-Marie Duff, Thomas Sangster.


Long story short: The 15-year-old John Lennon escapes his troubled family life into music.

First of all, this is not a "Beatles movie". It doesn't concentrate on the origins of the band, even though Paul McCartney plays quite an important role in John's early life, and we get to meet George Harrison, too. (George is my favourite Beatle, by the way! I base my opinion mostly on A Hard Day's Night. He's just the best one in it! God I love that film. I really need to write about it some time. Now let's move on before I start quoting the best lines... OKAY-ONLY-ONE! "What do you call that hairstyle you're wearing?" "Arthur." Awesomeness.)

The emphasis is mostly on John's mother issues. He was raised by his aunt Mimi, who's strict, serious and almost cold. His biological mother Julia on the other hand is spirited and carefree. They both cause John problems, equally. Mimi is played by Kristin Scott Thomas (wow, has it really been that long since The English Patient...?) and Julia by Anne-Marie Duff (married to James McAvoy!), and they both do good job, I think.


I had a tiny problem with Thomas Sangster playing Paul. While I loved him in Love Actually, he looks like he hasn't aged a day since then, and that was six bloody years before Nowhere Boy! All I could think of was that his voice didn't match his face. Sorry, but I didn't buy him as Paul! For me, he'll always be that little boy who's desperately in love with the prettiest girl in school. And I can't believe he's actually the same age as Aaron Johnson... I guess puberty doesn't treat everyone equally. Tough!

Next: Aaron Johnson, Hollywood's latest heart-throb, also known as Kick-Ass. He's so preeettyyy...

... maybe even too pretty for John Lennon. But hey, everyone get's to be a bit better-looking when a film is made about them! I actually liked Aaron Johnson, and believed that he was John Lennon. At times he sounded scarily similar to Lennon, both talking and singing voice, really! (I don't know if he did his own singing but anyway.) That wonderful Liverpool accent, and all...

Okay, this is um, interesting. According to the IMDb board, Aaron Johnson is engaged to the director of this film and she's expecting a child. Oh and she's born in 1967, which makes her... 43, right? (I don't trust my math.) And Aaron's 20. Alrighty, before, I was "worried" about being a cougar, because Aaron's a year younger than me, but I guess someone took it a little further. Gosh. I'm not judging, but um, WOW. Well. Whatever floats your boat and all that jazz!


Let's see if I can concentrate on the film for one more minute. Those news were a bit distracting. Right. Nowhere Boy. Where was I...? Okay. What I really liked about the film was the setting and the clothes (that's why all these photos) and the soundtrack and generally the atmosphere. Oh and I miss England! I want to go to England I need to go to England! (Ok, girl, hold on, one trip plan at a time. I'm going to Paris mon cheri bonjour enchante merci beacoup this summer! I'll get to put my enormous French skills into action! Oui, mon ami!)

All in all, Nowhere Boy was quite a charming film. I don't know if it was accurate - apparently Paul McCartney had read the scrip and insisted some changes to be done - but I guess you don't necessarily have to look at it as a bio pic. It was moving and also funny. Something was missing, I admit, but it was a nice film, anyway. Some small delicious details saved a lot. For example, I liked the scene where all those girls were screaming their lungs out for Elvis and John was looking around like "um...okay?". Haha. Just wait for it, mate.

"Oh, why couldn't God make me Elvis?"
"Because he was saving you for John Lennon."
"I'll get you back for that, God!"

6 comments:

Eve said...

Ooh, I'd LOVE to see this! And not the least because of Aaron, he's so gorgeous! I was surprised too when I found out he was engaged to the director of this film... Their age difference is the same as my brother and my mother's! And I didn't know Thomas Sangster was in this. For me he is also always that child in Love Actually.

I was just going to ask why I can't see your blog correctly, but then I decided to try Firefox. Damn you, Google Chrome! (Not really, I'll always love you, Chromey.)

Eeva said...

It is really worth watching... Aaron's quite a hunk! :D And he looks good in those 50s clothes.

(Aaaaargh, nämä selainjutut menee niin way over my head, miksei olemassa voi olla vain yksi selain jota kaikki käyttää... :D Nyt kun huomautit niin kokeilin Exploreriakin, eikä silläkään näkynyt kunnolla, kuinkas muuten. Voisin vaan muuttaa jollekin planeetalle, missä ei ole keksitty vielä tietokoneita. :D No ei, pitääpi konsultoida jotain viisaampaa tästä aiheesta...)

Eve said...

(Ylläri ettei Explorerilla toimi... On kyllä rasittavia nämä selaimet! Hetken aikaa Chromellakin toimi, mutta Glee postauksen jälkeen rakkaani heittäytyi hankalaksi. No, onneksi on Firefox :D)

Eeva said...

(Voi pahuksen pahus... Tietokoneet on niin ihania ja loistavia ja täydellisiä ja rakastan niitä, kunnes ne ei toimi niinkuin niiden haluaisi toimivan. :D Äää. No mutta, onpa tosiaan ainakin se Firefox. :D)

Anonymous said...

(hmmn, mun pitäisi varmaan oikeasti kommentoida englanniksi, mutta en nyt kykene, sori!)

Pidin Nowhere boyssa kauheasti siitä kohdasta, kun Paul esitellään Johnille. Vaikkakin täytyy kyllä olla samaa mieltä siitä, että en oikein nähnyt Paulia Paulina, ja Johnkin oli ehkä hitusen liian kaunis (kauhea synti olla hyvännäköinen xD). Mutta niiden välille syntyi kiva kontrasti, ne näytti niin erilaisilta mutta niillä oli silti yksi yhdistävä asia, musiikki.

Möh :D Tämän tahdoin kanssasi jakaa!

Eeva said...

(Nää, suomi on ihan hyvä kieli tähänkin tarkoitukseen!)

Joo, se oli kiva kohta! Se oli sellainen "ja loppu on historiaa" -hetki... Ja kyllä, John oli vähän liian nätti, poikaparka minkä taakan on saanut kantaakseen. :D

Musta ainakin kiva kun jaoit tämän kanssani!