Summary of the Film "About a boy"

The film "About a boy" by the Weitz-Brothers is about a boy who has got social problems in school and at home and a man who gets involved in the life of the boy and finally helps him and at the same time himself to get along better in life.

Will, Hugh Grant, has got nothing serious to do in his life. He lives of the money the song of his father makes. His life seems to be based on getting to know women. To get his aim he starts to invent children only to get more sympathy from the single mothers.

But his life changes on the "day of the dead duck". Will gets to know Marcus, a boy who has got no friends and a depressive single mother who is a kind of hippy and has got lots of problems.

Will goes out with a friend of Marcus mother. She takes Marcus with her and he kills not on purpose a duck. When a park inspector notices the dead duck and Marcus Will protects Marcus. Impressed by Wills action Marcus starts to like and admires him. They go back to Marcus house and find his Mother who tried to commit suicide. They take her to hospital and she is soon well again.

But from that day on Marcus doesn't feel well by living alone with his mother any longer. "Two is not enough" He wants Will to become his mom's boyfriend to cheer her up. Marcus forces Will to go out with him and his mother. Although Will and his mother are too different for a relationship Marcus starts to visit Will every day. Will helps Marcus to fell better and to get along better in school. Will starts to like Marcus and asks him to help him with a woman named Rachel who he really likes and thinks that he has got a child. But through the fact that he for the first time falls in love he tells her the truth and they break up.

Will feels really bad and avoids Marcus, who fears again that his Mom would try to commit suicide again. To cheer her up again he wants to take part at a Rock competition at his school singing the song "killing me softly". This means to commit social suicide.

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