Today, I took a little trip to the library down the street. Can I just say that the movie section in the library is ridiculously underrated. I was shocked to find Nowhere Boy, a film I've been wanting to watch for a couple of months now. I assumed it was a bit too obscure, but I took a look. And now, I'm writing this review.Before I go any further, please do not write off Nowhere Boy if you don't like The Beatles. The music serves as a simple backdrop, a unifier, a steady and constant thread throughout the film. The complicated, confusing relationships in John's life were what made this film captivating.
Now, as a Beatles fan, my reaction to the trailer said it all. My eyes were the size of dinner plates and my jaw practically hit the floor. It was a movie I had to see, but it was never spoken of. I didn't see it advertised and my friends weren't talking about it. So naturally, it slipped my mind. However, the notion that I had to see this movie eventually found its way back to my brain.
Obviously, when telling a true story, there isn't much room for change to get an accurate recounting. Ditch the fancy lighting and artsy camera angles and there's the raw biography. Director Sam Taylor-Wood did a great job of snipping away the excess and encapsulating the key points in John Lennon's teenage years through Aaron Johnson.
My favorite plot development, which was the most prevalent through the film, was the ongoing battle between Mimi, John's aunt, and Julia, John's mother. Julia disappeared out of John's life when he was very young, and Mimi raised him as her own. He could not choose who his heart belonged to, the uptight, reliable Mimi or the flighty, rebellious rock-and-roller Julia.
When first introduced to Julia Lennon, played by Anne-Marie Duff, I was a little uneasy. Julia was a breath of fresh air compared to Mimi, played by Kristin Scott Thomas, but I didn't like the way she interacted with John. It's one thing to love your child, but being in love is a completely different story. In one scene, John's cousin takes him to see Julia. John and Julia spend a day out on the boardwalk. Their chemistry looked and felt more like boyfriend/girlfriend than son/mother. Simply a bit too close and touchy-feely for a mother and son. I understand that she was young and promiscuous, but I didn't dig the slight sexual tension. Not one bit.
I loved seeing young interpretations of Paul McCartney, George Harrison and John Lennon. They were absolutely adorable. Although there weren't many scenes, I loved the relationship built between John and Paul, played by Thomas Brodie Sangster. Obviously, the two go on to unite and have great success. But seeing them at age 15, when they had no clue what they were in for, was just brilliant.
When the movie ended with John heading to Germany, I said "That's it?" I was expecting to see a little bit of Beatlemania, but that was not the case. I suppose that was a good place to end, since it wasn't as predictable. It would have been cool to see some reactions and first-hand experiences of the mania, but no big loss.
I thoroughly enjoyed Nowhere Boy and I'm so glad I watched it. I learned a lot and it was much more entertaining than skimming through John Lennon's Wikipedia.
Out of four, I give it:
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