Review: Nowhere Boy (2009)

Yet another entry in the on-going saga of me writing reviews long after I've seen the film.

Anyways, I saw Nowhere Boy, and I was pleasantly surprised.

Sam Taylor-Johnson's direction is very nice, with some beautiful cinematography by Seamus McGarvey really giving the film a warm, nostalgic aura. The film is rather understated, but obviously a labor of love, and therefore it can overcome most of the flaws it might have.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson turns in an excellent, underrated performance as the young John Lennon. He embodies both the rough and tumble persona Lennon loved to play up and the emotionally vulnerable, lost young man seeking a mother figure to identify with. His emotions are always genuine, and he has genuine charm and personality. He really feels like he's on the way to becoming the Lennon we all know and love. On top of that, he has a fine singing voice, mimicking Lennon's trademark nasally voice very well.

Kristin Scott Thomas turns in a solid performance as the straight laced yet deeply caring Aunt Mimi, which is contrasted well with the much more flashy and flippant persona that Anne-Marie Duff's Julia Lennon embodies. They contrast either well, with both of them obviously caring for John, but with Mimi obviously being the more responsible one verses Julia's much more 'live the moment, pay no heed to consequences' personality that, while making a fun party partner, isn't a good mother.

Thomas Sangster as Paul McCartney isn't quite as spot on as Taylor-Johnson's Lennon, but he still plays his part well. Possibly it's because his part is rather minor, since this is a very young McCartney, who obviously hasn't fully become the charmer we all know and love. But the traits are there, they just need to be developed. His vocals as McCartney aren't quite as spot-on as Taylor-Johnson's, but he has a good singing voice, so it makes up for it to a good extent.

Now, I do feel that the screenplay is somewhat lacking, if only because it tries to tackle John Lennon's complex mother issues, while filtering in a subtext that I feel is perhaps unneeded and rather Freudian. For me, it kinda cheapens some aspects of the film, since it casts John's relationship with Julia in a rather off-putting light. However, these scenes are brief, so they don't drag the film down entirely.

The use of music is great, with a lot of great classic rock from the likes of Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry and Screamin Jay Hawkings all really rocking the music that is obviously key to this film. The original score is also quite good, and it's a shame that it wasn't released on its own.

One final quibble is that there is some unnecessary sexual content, such as a wide shot of John fingering a girl. Needless to say that I feel it greatly detracts from the film, since the previous shot of their faces while doing the nasty was just as, if not more, effective at showing what they're doing. We don't need that wide shot, and it just feels needlessly explicit.

In the end, Nowhere Boy is an erstwhile effort at giving Lennon some backstory. It might not be a magnum opus for the ages, but it's certainly a good film, and worth checking out.

Four out of Five.