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!"