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9

PopcornNRosesNov 8, 2010

Not being a John Lennon fanatic but more of a casual fan of his, it was actor Aaron Johnson that brought me into Nowhere Boy, and I was right to be brought in - he hits this completely out of the ballpark. Lennon's upper teenage years areNot being a John Lennon fanatic but more of a casual fan of his, it was actor Aaron Johnson that brought me into Nowhere Boy, and I was right to be brought in - he hits this completely out of the ballpark. Lennon's upper teenage years are the focus, and we see the kind of home life Lennon had, and what shaped the man he would become as one of the biggest musical influences of all time. Johnson, a PNR Rising Star this year, is amazing - this kid has so much talent oozing out of him it won't be long before Oscar comes calling. Kristin Scott-Thomas shines as Mimi, John's somewhat icy aunt, with whom he lives, and Anne-Marie Duff is amazing as Julia, John's mum, who he finds out lives just down the road from him. Even for a casual Lennon fan, this is a great film to see just for those three performances. And just to be snarky, if ever there was a film that deserved the MPAA's ridiculous "smoking " advisory, this is it - Johnson is rarely if ever without a cigarette in the last third of the film, nor are many of the rest of the cast...Nowhere Boy shines all the way around, and I think John would be very pleased with the result - and Yoko has said that SHE is...… Expand

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

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8

mazkyOct 29, 2010

By no means a masterpiece, but an enjoyable film about the tragedies that affected Lennon before becoming one of the greatest musicians his world has ever seen,

One problem i found was a bit of an abrupt ending and it could of easily beenBy no means a masterpiece, but an enjoyable film about the tragedies that affected Lennon before becoming one of the greatest musicians his world has ever seen,

One problem i found was a bit of an abrupt ending and it could of easily been extended but it did well enough in the time it was.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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5

MarcDoyleOct 11, 2010

I was under the misimpression that this would be a story about the formation of the Beatles from John Lennon's perspective. Instead, we get a poorly paced examination of Lennon and the two women in his life. I was, frankly, a little bored.I was under the misimpression that this would be a story about the formation of the Beatles from John Lennon's perspective. Instead, we get a poorly paced examination of Lennon and the two women in his life. I was, frankly, a little bored. The lead actor is solid enough to keep me interested, and his mother is terrific, but as a movie - I'd give it a pass.… Expand

2 of 3 users found this helpful21

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10

sahtakcinOct 26, 2010

John would be sure to remind us that that you have to be careful when you venture into idol-making. "Nor is their singing school but studying monuments of it's own magnificence..." So the director is careful here, too careful. It has itsJohn would be sure to remind us that that you have to be careful when you venture into idol-making. "Nor is their singing school but studying monuments of it's own magnificence..." So the director is careful here, too careful. It has its moments but this is kitchen room drama not "A Day In The Life."… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

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7

1jesper1Oct 9, 2010

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. An interesting biopic about the early life of John Lennon, and especially about the two women bringing him up. With fine production values and a great pace, the film never fails to capture you.

Kristin Scott-Thomas is best in show and completely steals the scene away when she tells about why she "took" John Lennon from his mother, she captures every emotion. Anne-Marie Duff is also good, but sometimes you miss that she's his mother and instead think of her as just a friend to him. The star of the movie, Aaron Johnson gives a good performance, but is often overshadowed by the two leadings ladies mentioned before.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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6

ShiiraNov 22, 2010

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. You'll be able to name that tune in one note. The struck chord that the artist as a young man hears in his sleep, in his childhood home, blissfully unaware of what the dream, the ringing note entails. John Lennon wakes up without the slightest indication that he's just had a nightmare. He thinks it was a good dream; he's a dreamer. In this reverie, John is standing outside a building, and then he's running; the boy is running away from an invisible mob of cheering fans, and that struck chord, of course, is the opening to "A Hard Day's Night". The dream plays like an ancillary scene from the 1964 Richard Lester film which captured Beatlemania at its most manic. The artist as a young man doesn't quite remember what transpired during this dream, but he knows that the purchasing of a guitar is his ticket to fame and fortune, and also, as we all learned on that fateful December day in 1980, a violent, abrupt death. Alas, the struck chord could be a tolling bell that just struck midnight, signalling the end to a charmed life at the hands of a madman. Young Lennon isn't running away from his adoring fans, he's running away from a fanatic. Sometimes charming, sometimes alarming, "Nowhere Boy", nevertheless, is the perfect antidote for Lennon fans who were faced with, not one, but two films about Mark David Chapman(J.P. Schaefer's "Chapter 27" and Andrew Piddington's "The Assassination of John Lennon"), which for some, were two films too many. Ironically enough, though, it's "Nowhere Boy" that shows Lennon being shot, albeit in code. Ultimately, the struck chord could very be the fatal gunshot blast. Based on the memoir by Julia Baird("Imagine This: Growing Up with my Brother John Lennon"), the late Beatle's half-sister, the filmmaker seems less interested in Lennon's music than with the complicated relationship he had with his mother, also named Julia(Anne Marie Duff), whom John paid tribute to on "The White Album". The film reinforces the ambiguity surrounding "Julia", in which the lyrics describe a woman, not a maternal figure, and that's how John relates to his mother, as the new woman in his life. If it wasn't for "Julia", the elegiac ballad that some may confuse for a love song, since Lennon's lyrics describe his mother in almost erotic terms("seashell eyes, windy smile...her hair of floating sky is shimmering, glimmering"). He asks her to "touch me", and in "Nowhere Boy", there's touching, but is it a good touch, when mom lies down on her son, as Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "I Put a Spell on You" plays in the background. It's a little weird because Julia tells John in an earlier scene that "rock and roll equals sex", and while the song plays, his mind reflects back on a sexual encounter he recently had with a local neighborhood girl, suggesting that the boy finds his mother equally alluring. Does this suggestion of an incestuous relationship upstage the music? Yes. But that's not necessarily an unforgivable thing, since this undefined love competes against Lennon's first band The Quarrymen, not the most influential band of the twentieth century. But does the romantic love that might have existed between mother and son play like an invasion of the legendary musician's privacy, in which Baird's first-hand testimony of the going-ons in her early English home that informs "Nowhere Boy" seem a bit on the sensationalistic side, therefore shrouding this biopic in tackiness? Yes. But it's fascinating. Still, it would've been nice if the filmmaker included one scene that showcased the dawning of Lennon's musical genius.… Expand