I've never been what you would call a huge fan of Hugh Grant, especially when there was a time when he appeared to churn out the same old routine of mumbling, swearing and looking out from below his foppish hair. But then "About a Boy" is a movie which can change your mind as Hugh Grant shows that he's more than just a mumbling Brit with a posh accent, but a good actor who when given a chance can turn in a surprisingly entertaining performance. And Hugh Grant is not the only good thing in "About a Boy" as it features a strong performance from a talented young Nicholas Hoult as well as plenty of amusing and intelligent writing.

Will Freeman (Hugh Grant - Mickey Blue Eyes) has built the perfect life for himself, he does what he likes and doesn't work as he lives off of the royalties from a Christmas song that his father wrote many years earlier. But that is all about to change when pretending to be a single dad so that he can date single mums he meets Marcus (Nicholas Hoult) a young geeky boy who thanks to his hippyish mother is the butt of playground jokes and bullying. Although Will is happy to be his own island he slowly warms to Marcus and through their rather strange friendship change each others life as Will discovers his insular life is in fact rather shallow.

Adapted from Nick Hornby's book, "About a Boy" comes across as a double coming of age movie with Will and Marcus meeting each other and through their innocent friendship end up teaching each other important life changing lessons. We watch as Will goes from his self absorbed, insular life, an admitted island where being an island is not deemed normal to someone who is more accepting that no man is an island. At the same time we watch Marcus, your child loser dressed up in awful clothes thanks to his single mothers almost hippy like life style go from unconfident to confident. It's a fun journey, embellishing reality to comical extremes although as someone who loves his island I don't agree with the sentiment.

The reason why "About a Boy" is such a good movie is that directors Chris and Paul Weitz approach the material in a light hearted manner. So although there is a constant message about embracing life it's always done with a sense of comedy, often though some brilliantly scripted internal monologues which pep up scenes of almost normality. But quite brilliantly it restrains itself going for obvious gags, instead delivering something simple as Will living his life in 30 minutes unit, including units of watching Countdown and playing snooker for exercise. Although there are some priceless gags including the dead duck scene, classic comedy brilliantly executed with perfect timing and witty dialogue.

Although having said all this, the storyline or at least the coming of age concept is by no means new. It's just that the clever dialogue, the witty internal monologues, contrived comical scenes and the light hearted touch give it a fresher feeling. As such there are many moments which will have you laughing out loud as some point about being an Island is embellished to comical status.

As already mentioned I've never been a huge Hugh Grant fan I grew tired of the same shtick he did in various movies, but in "About a Boy" he shows that he is more capable than just mumbling his way through a movie. It sort of feels like with Will he is playing almost an extension of himself, the bachelor who enjoys dating women although long term commitment and babies would encroach on the life style he has built for himself. As such there is almost a sense of self depreciating humour, as Will falls foul of his caddish behaviour and womanizing lies, whilst feels threatened when his island is under attack from friendship.

Whilst Hugh Grant is the star of "About a Boy" the then young Nicholas Hoult holds his own delivering a strong performance as Marcus. And Toni Collette as well as Rachel Weisz adds to the movies pedigree delivering splendid characters.

What this all boils down to is that "About a Boy" is a thoroughly good British comedy. It's not the greatest of storylines but the direction and clever writing turn the unoriginal coming of age tale into something full of fun. And with good performances from Hugh Grant and Nicholas Hoult it never has a dull moment with some splendid inner monologues injecting humour as the storyline occasionally wavers.