“You chose to steal my son.”
What’s it all about? “Nowhere Boy” chronicles the childhood of John Lennon (Aaron Johnson), his early friendship with Paul McCartney (Thomas Sangster), and the struggle between his spirited mother (Anne-Marie Duff) and formidable aunt (Kristin Scott Thomas) for the love of the future Beatle.
After the first few moments of “Nowhere Boy”, I couldn’t believe that John Lennon was played by Aaron Johnson of “Kick Ass” fame. Watching “Kick Ass”, I was irritated by Johnson’s squeaky-voiced performance. It turns out that Johnson was just trying to cover up an English accent. His potryal of John Lennon was immediately sympathetic and intriguing. I felt my initial reservations about the film and its casting melt away around me.
The actresses who play Lennon’s mother (Duff) and aunt Mimi (Thomas) kill in their roles. It’s a difficult situation that they are all in. Watching the film, your allegiance with either the mother or Mimi changes many times. This is life — well, historical fiction — and it’s messy. However, the relationship between Lennon and his mother is filmed in an incestuous light at times, and the resulting discomfort pushes you toward Mimi for some vestige of good judgement. The struggle between the two sisters for the love of John permeates the film to its very bones. Even the costuming department got in on it. During the pinnacle argument between the two sisters, John wears a suit coloured by both Mimi’s signature black and his mother’s red. That put a smile on my face.
Paul McCartney is played memorably by Thomas Sangster. He is best known for his heart-breaking/warming turn as Liam Neeson’s son in “Love Actually”. Yeah, I’m talking about the kid with the drums. (Also, he guest-starred on Doctor Who during the David Tennant era.) As soon as Mr. Sangster showed his endearing little head, I bought the actor as McCartney. The character is charmingly earnest about his relationship to music, staying far away from the rebel persona that Lennon adopts. The anguish he has over his mother’s death is plain as day on his face. Sangster’s McCartney is the complete opposite of the closed-off and arrogant young Lennon, and the film benefits from his short-lived but essential presence.
Favourite Scene: Any scene with Thomas Sangster’s Paul McCartney. I’m in love.
Notes: Directed by Sam Taylor-Wood; Produced by Robert Bernstein; Douglas Rae; Written by Matt Greenhalgh; Starring Aaron Johnson, Thomas Sangster, Anne-Marie Duff, Kristin Scott Thomas; Cinematography by Seamus McGarvey.
Sasha James, otherwise known as The Final Girl Project, is a twenty-something Torontonian with an unhealthy amount of her week reserved for film and television. She also moonlights as The Doctor's companion on Saturdays. 
Wow, this sounds so interesting! I love Sangster and have been eager to see him in more grown-up roles. Too bad this won’t be coming to the US until October. Oh welllll
@Alex As soon as I saw his face, I cheered, “Doctor Whooo!”
aw, I’ve been waiting to here more about this movie since I saw an article in Empire about it. It looks good! And your review covers those important, but sticky areas with the relationships.
@Allison The film very enjoyable to watch. It’s a really great Sunday afternoon movie.
@Sasha that’s a good way of describing movies. I think I might organize movies by days of the week and timeliness of watching them.
eeeek, this film bored the blue cheese out of me. and i love the beatles! was a shame, i was looking forward to it. i can’t really explain why it didn’t work for me, i hardly remember it (that’s what happens when i don’t like a film. rather than fly into a rage about why i dislike it, i just forget it) but i just remember not enjoying it. the mccartney kid was good.
ohhhh, i found the woman playing his mum ANNOYING. maybe that was the point.
@Kid Yeah, I hated the mom with a passion as well. I can completely understand hatred for this movie, but I really enjoyed it as a Sunday afternoon flick. Not completely engrossing, but entertaining.