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Critic Reviews
- Critic score
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Walton’s Will is more jovial and goofy, a ladies’ man with at least one good and honest friend his own age in Andy. He’s also the primary reason to give NBC’s About a Boy any sort of chance to develop its formula.
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The show is a sweetened, Americanized version of the 2002 film of the same name starring Hugh Grant, which was itself adapted from Nick Hornby's 1998 novel.
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Cute and occasionally touching, About a Boy gets no points in its early episodes for originality or expanding the single-camera comedy form but it's a decent little show about flawed but essentially decent characters.
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It's not a terrible show, but it's a fairly literal, toothless translation of the source material that doesn't give much indication of working as an ongoing series.
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About a Boy yearns to be good. Yet it relishes being bad. And Katims--guiding hand to "Parenthood" and "Friday Night Lights"--doesn't fess up to that dichotomy.
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There are a handful of lines in every episode that are worth a smile or two (as well as a celebrity cameo in episode two that works surprisingly well in this regard), and the acting is largely solid (though everyone seems to be in different shows). But there’s a serious lack of a core to About A Boy.
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The premiere has moments of clever insight into the dating process and how parenthood can change you but the show spins its wheels for the next two episodes sent for press.
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This About a Boy is as subtle as a chain saw.
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To be clear, the problem isn't that Will is in some general sense unlikable, it's that About a Boy rigs the show so that you have no choice but to think of him as a liberating life force who's adorable and ultimately admirable.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 53 out of 69
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Mixed: 11 out of 69
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Negative: 5 out of 69
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Feb 24, 2014
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Mar 5, 2014
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Feb 23, 2014