Review of Nowhere Boy (2009) by Javier B — 18 Feb 2011

This is the movie I've been waiting ten months to see and now that I've finally seen it, it surely pays off. Nowhere Boy is beautifully directed with wonderful actors and an emotional tale that all should see.

Nowhere Boy is basically a retelling of John Lennon's life at age seventeen. For those who aren't as polished with their Beatles history, John had been living with his aunt Mimi ever since he was six. This movie covers over John's introduction to rock and roll, the eventual realization of the truth of why he's living with his aunt Mimi if his mom Julia is alive and LIVING AROUND THE CORNER, and also details his meeting with Paul McCartney and George Harrison.

This movie can go either way depending on what perspective you have while watching it. If you're looking for a look into John's creative influences and how his musical life was like as a teenager, this is not the right movie for you. However, if you look for a look into the life of John Lennon as a teenager, seeing the psychological scars he received during the time, this is the perfect movie. It's rather funny, that while this is supposed to be a movie about John Lennon, it seems to focus more on Aunt Mimi and Julia's relationship. It barely touched on John's early music life, and we barely see McCartney and Harrison in the film at all (and for those wondering, no there isn't any Ringo Starr in this film. He didn't come into the band until 1962, and this movie cuts off at 1958.) Yet, that's not all that big of a deal. The acting in this movie is superb, the actress playing Julia doing a wonderful job.

Now, I could go nit-picking at this movie for little details gotten wrong (physical traits (especially the supposed George Harrison lookalike) small historical facts screwed up...etc.), but then we'd be here for hours. So overall, Nowhere Boy is a magnificent film and I can't wait to see more by Sam Taylor Wood. (Btw, if the actor playing John Lennon looks familiar, he's Aaron Johnson, who recently played the main character in the movie Kick-Ass.) Real rating: 97%.