Director: Paul Weitz, Chris Weitz
Cast: Hugh Grant, Toni Collette, Rachel Weisz, Nicholas Hoult
Have I Seen it Before: Yes. Every twenty years or so I go off the deep end of everything Nick Hornby, and this one ends up getting rolled up into the mix.
Did I Like It: There’s just something about Hornby’s novels—I did finish re-reading this one right before pressing play; like I said, deep end—where they are the opposite of most novels, and their cienmatic adaptation feels inevitable. High Fidelity (2000) can survive the indignity of being pulled from the UK to take place in Chicago, and still winds up being an exceptionally faithful, and strangely worthy adaptation of the source material. I tend to think of it as the Casino Royale (2006) syndrome. Try pitching making the original Bond movie, but excise Baccarat from the mix. Most purists would automatically turn their noses up and keep them there. Then, the film comes out, and it is a strangely faithful, and iminently loved adaptation.
Maybe British authors are just better at producing adaptable material.
Here, too, I’m struck by the fact that the book is not only begging to be made into a film, but begging to have Hugh Grant star as Will Freeman. The cadences of Will’s thoughts and speech are befuddled in the specifically Hugh Grant wavelength. Other British actors might have been able to do a commendable job in the role, but it wouldn’t appear to be such an easy, seemless performance.
The movie is certainly helped by the introduction of Hoult. Who knew he had a full-throated movie store living within him that was waiting for a growth spurt to be released? Here, he plays the awkward kid just past his cute phase with a similar ease. We should have known what he could do by his coming on the screen this self-assured.