Marcus, played by Nicholas Hoult, and his mom Fiona, played by Toni Collette, often differ in their reactions to Will, played by Hugh Grant, in the film "About a Boy." (Gannett News Service, Laurie Sparham/Universal Studios). About a Boy Starring: Hugh Grant, Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, Rachel Weisz. Directors: Paul and Chris Weitz. Rated PG-13: Profanity. Running time: 101 minutes. view the trailer | official website

Two boys -- one 12, one 38 -- lend charm to comedy

by Jack Garner, Gannett News Service

"About a Boy" is about...two boys.

There's a 12-year-old misfit named Marcus (Nicholas Hoult) in this bittersweet English comedy. He's scorned as an oddball at his school, and his mother (Toni Collette) is a distraught latter-day hippie suffering from depression.

But at the center of this bittersweet English comedy is 38-year-old Will (Hugh Grant), a ne'er-do-well playboy who revels in his shallowness and relishes his lack of commitment to anything or anyone.

He doesn't even hold a job, preferring to live off the royalties of his late father's lone accomplishment as a songwriter, a silly but popular Christmas perennial called "Santa's Super Sleigh."

Will can also surely be called a boy -- a poster-boy for arrested development. His idea of a busy day is spent buying CDs, watching TV in his very cool apartment and figuring ways to get attractive women in bed -- and then out of his life.

"About a Boy" starts like an updated version of the Michael Caine classic "Alfie," the famous saga of an irresponsible cad. But it shifts gears when Will makes a discovery: There's a large pool of available women, the single-parent mothers of young children.

To dive into this pool, Will decides to pretend to be a single-parent father. So he "borrows" a boy he's recently met, Marcus.

But despite such a despicable start to their relationship, Will and Marcus find themselves gradually drawn to each other. If both guys are lucky, one boy will learn how to enjoy being a boy, and the other boy will become a man.

That sounds corny, but "About a Boy" sidesteps most of the sap through its sometimes caustic humor. Much comes from the off-screen narration by Will and Marcus.

Another plus is "About a Boy"'s bloodlines. It's from a hit novel by Nick Hornby, who also wrote "High Fidelity," with a screenplay is by Peter Hedges, who wrote "What's Eating Gilbert Grape." Most surprising, the direction is by Paul and Chris Weitz, who previously baked "American Pie."

The Weitz brothers did have to upgrade their movie taste and intelligence, and they succeeded. You'd never guess "About a Boy" came from the filmmakers behind such a funny but infantile film.

Moments in "About a Boy" sometimes play a little soft; the pacing isn't always as taut as it should be. Still, the key characters are quirky and entertaining and will hold your attention.

Hugh Grant is the perfect choice to play Will. He's a good-looking, world-class playboy, and it's amusing to watch him tease his image and move beyond it.

Newcomer Hoult is also good as Marcus, projecting not only the boy's potential but also his sometimes gloomy quirkiness. He's not always an easy kid to like, which makes the development of the film's key relationship more challenging.

A mellow rock-song score by Badly Drawn Boy (Damon Gough) gives the film a stylish, unifying tone, though it's nearly sandbagged by the ubiquitous "Killing Me Softly With His Song," which is over-used as a plot point.

You'll want to kill the guy who picked that song for the grand finale for this worthwhile and amusing alternative to the season of spider webs and lightsabers.