NOWHERE BOY

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Every so often a small film comes along that is simply pitch perfect. The Weinstein Company's "Nowhere Boy," directed by first-time feature filmmaker Sam Taylor-Wood, is one such film. Every so often a small film comes along that is simply pitch perfect. The Weinstein Company’s “Nowhere Boy,” directed by first-time feature filmmaker Sam Taylor-Wood, is one such film. While it just happens that the drama, set in the mid-1950’s, features one the most important icons in musical history in John Lennon, his teenage angst is merely the chorus for the warbled song sung by his two mothers with distinctly different voices—Mimi (Kristin Scott Thomas), his strict aunt who raised John since he was a young child, and Julia (Anne-Marie Duff), his free-spirited biological mother, who returns to his life when his uncle dies.  In fact, the delicate performances by Thomas and Duff are the emotional wellspring that keeps what will probably be sold as an arthouse film but deserving of so much more, on track from beginning to end. And if Duff, who received good marks in last year’s “The Last Station,” doesn’t get tagged for a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her delightfully sugar-coated trainwreck-of-a-performance, it will only be because not enough people saw the film. She is remarkable and just one of the many actors in this film not only hit all the right notes, but create an engaging symphony with all their nuanced performances. Aaron Johnson portrays John Lennon with a wily, reckless bravado that is equal parts boyish brashness and mild-mannered melancholy—the perfect dichotomy considering the matriarchal constraints present in his life.  He may have been introduced to audiences as a dopey American starring as the lead of “Kick-Ass,” but here he proves he has true emotional depths that will keep him employed in this business a very long time.  This is one of those career defining performances. Bringing to life a icon that has probably touched more lives than all the world’s politicians combined is no small task, but Johnson focuses his energy on the creative explosion and finds the magic within through the manic energy of Lennon’s young spirit.  Ultimately, he comes off as his fellow Liverpool mates would probably call him—“A fucking charming bloke.” The young boys that round out Lennon’s mates are all exceptional, but especially Thomas Sangster (“Love, Actually”) who portrays the reserved genius, Paul McCartney. There is soulfulness in his limited performance that is undeniable. Director Taylor-Wood, herself a respected artist and UK native, has truly captured the spirit of the times and done so with varied strokes and a keen eye on the importance of Lennon’s formative upbringing.  A particularly poignant scene shows Paul teaching John how to really play guitar up in his room while his Aunt listens downstairs and eventually moves them out to the porch. It tingles the spine listening to these two teenagers learning to play music up in John’s tiny bedroom, music that will indeed change the world one day. But the real beauty of the moment is experiencing the bonding of two fractured souls who embrace one another and give each other the courage to find a collective voice larger than their own.  Throughout, the filmmakers embrace the characters through actions and reactions, moment to moment, like the lyrics of a beautiful song, and choose not to bog the story down with a straight narrative.  The film’s strength is that it consistently focuses on the relationships of the characters, especially the two sisters and their love triangle with Lennon. The problem with most biopics, is they feel they have to tell the entire story of a person’s life to bring meaning and merit to it. But, what you find when viewing “Nowhere Boy” is that, as in life, it is the small moments that truly encapsulate the human experience and cause one to change and evolve. Capturing these very specific and tender moments in Lennon’s life, the film captures the essence of him as a person. This is not a teenage angst film, as much as it is a lesson in life, and more importantly, a lesson in forgiveness that comes when one bares their soul. It’s that same understanding that seemed to have burrowed deeply into Lennon and McCartney, and followed The Beatles throughout their career, and is probably the reason that generation after generation can’t stop singing the music that poured out of them as freely as the emotions between them.  You don’t have to be a Beatles fan to enjoy this film; you just have to be a fan of life. This film is touched and deserves to be seen, if not revered for the performances alone.  Director Taylor-Wood had a lot to do with that, and while she may have made what people in the industry call a small film, her passion is as piercing as Lennon’s—straight from the heart. We have just witnessed the arrival of another fresh female voice in the cinematic world…no small feat.  http://www.filmradar.com/reviews/item/nowhere_boy/