Review of Nowhere Boy (2009) by Manny C — 04 Nov 2010

There aren't any major revelations in this feature focused on the teenage life of John Lennon, growing up in working-class Liverpool, before he helped form a little band called the Beatles. Director Sam Taylor-Wood takes a script from Matt Greenhalgh, adapted from the memoir written by Lennon's half-sister, and masterfully creates a love triangle of a different kind. This is the story of a young boy torn between the love of two women, they being his free-spirited mother (Anne-Marie Duff, magnificent) who abandoned him and the aunt (the amazing Kristen Scott Thomas) who raised him since he was five.

Lennon himself is portrayed by Kick Ass star Aaron Johnson. Johnson doesn't exactly look like Lennon, but the looks aren't really what matters. Johnson expertly portrays the lost, lonely kid full of wicked mischief. But as good as Johnson is, it's the ladies on screen who really make this story come to life. Duff and Scott Thomas are both terrific, showing how the emotional battles between these two sisters shaped him. Nowhere Boy doesn't spell everything out, it's smart enough to let you fill in the blanks. And though you only hear one Lennon song at the end, and not a single Beatles song, the film is vibrantly filled with the rock and roll that inspired Lennon. The beauty of this movie is that you hear Lennon's incredible music in your head as it goes.