NOWHERE BOY review: all you need is love

NOWHERE BOY review: all you need is love

Jul 03

It’s hard to know what to expect from a film about one of the world’s greatest musical geniuses that will never actually show an inkling of his fame and fortune. It takes some serious balls to make a film about John Lennon and not mention The Beatles. Indeed, the director of Nowhere Boy has no balls: she’s a woman. Sam Taylor-Wood has bravely delivered a wonderfully rounded film about a rock icon in her directorial debut.

I know plenty about John Lennon as the guy who fronted The Beatles. There’s plenty about his character to keep people fascinated for generations to come: his smart-arse responses to interview questions, the music, the poetry, his glasses… but I didn’t know much about the life John Lennon had growing up. This helped my experience of Nowhere Boy a great deal. What’s special about the film is, even if you’re not slightly interested in the music or the man himself, the story will still work. You’d still be taken on an intriguing journey- as I was- that continued to fascinate at every beat.

I sat and munched my popcorn, sipped my coffee and continually sank deeper and deeper into late 195o’s Liverpool, where rock n’ roll was still taboo and record players were designed for classical records. This is effectively a story about a young boy dealing with his family issues just moments before becoming a man. The boy just so happens to be John Lennon, and the story goes a long way to explaining how he found his talent. It’s the make-up of a genius.

The first thing Nowhere Boy got right was the staggering performance of Aaron Johnson as a fifteen/sixteen-year-old John Lennon. It’s one thing to look like Lennon at that age (which he does) it’s another to completely nail the accent and bring forward the attitude John Lennon had at that time. He was rough and tough, obnoxious and defiant, and desperately seeking acceptance in a family; either his own real, immediate family, or one he had to create himself (The Quarrymen—the band before The Beatles). Johnson becomes John Lennon in an unforgettable transformation that deserves every bit of praise coming his way. I can’t believe it’s the same kid from Kick-Ass. I’m glad I saw Kick-Ass before I saw Nowhere Boy, because I think that comparison helped underline how spectacularly perfect his performance is.

An intriguing part of the story was the meeting of Lennon and McCartney and watching their friendship grow from scratch. This, and the recruitment of George Harrison to The Quarrymen, are the closest thing to The Beatles the film provides. Thomas Sangster delivered his best performance to date and heightened his stock as a matured actor in the process (you might know him best as Liam Neeson’s son in Love Actually). His portrayal of McCartney may not be spot-on, but it didn’t need to be. His performance delivered the emotional support to carry Lennon through a tumultuous third act—everything a support actor needed to be, both as an actor in this film, and a friend to Lennon in real life.

Delivering equally fine performances were Kristin Scott Thomas as Lennon’s Aunt and guardian, Mimi, and Anne-Marie Duff as Lennon’s mother. They were each heartfelt and sorrowful while maintaining an ire of dishonesty that encapsulated Lennon’s world. His family was messed up from a very early age, and the twist his Mother and Aunt deliver to him is filmic gold. If you think you’ve guessed it, you haven’t. And I urge you not to find out if you plan on seeing Nowhere Boy.

Man, it’s no wonder his music wound up so fucking good.

Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey did a fantastic job of keeping the film honest for its setting. I felt like I had been plucked from my seat and secretly plopped down in 1956-8 to watch the story take place—there’s no heightened digital crispness and no fancy set-piece sequences with unnecessary camera angles. All colours are appropriately loud when necessary and otherwise suitably neutral.

I was also impressed with the decision to exclude any timeless Beatles songs from the soundtrack, despite how tempting it must have been to include at least one or two. The only one heard is the demo recorded by Lennon, McCartney and George Harrison with The Quarrymen not long before The Beatles as we know them came into fruition. It was a fitting way to close out the film.

What was important (and impressive) about Nowhere Boy was the fact this could have been told about anyone. The message that propels the plot is one of longing, love and family. All this young man wanted was to be loved and needed; accepted into a family without fuss or ridicule. He eventually found it in his mates, Paul MacCartney, and the bands he would form. It’s a sad and tragic childhood that was essential to the making of a genius. With a story like that backing a film, I’d assume it’d be difficult to go wrong. Thankfully Nowhere Boy captured the essence of Julia Baird’s memoirs (John Lennon’s sister) and didn’t turn them into a second-rate TV movie.

A unique film to experience about a unique artist and man, Nowhere Boy was worth my time.

NOWHERE BOY