So far, The Beatles have never really received a film that truly defines them (I'll be good and not mention The Rutles . . . heh-heh-heh).
Imagine: John Lennon was too respectful while not giving Paul, George and Ringo their due, while 1994's Backbeat unsuccessfully tried to reinvent the band as proto-grungers. Sam Taylor-Wood's Nowhere Boy tries to tell the definitive tale of John Lennon's troubled adolescence but doesn't succeed in its ambitions. That said, Aaron Johnson (Kick-Ass) nails the essence of Lennon's personality while Kristin Scott Thomas dominates the screen as his icy Aunt Mimi.
Kristin Scott Thomas and Aaron Johnson Star in Maple Pictures/Ecosse Films' Nowhere Boy
John Lennon (Johnson) hides his pain with a combination of vicious wit and adolescent rebellion. Living with his iron-willed and emotionally distant Aunt Mimi (Scott Thomas), he's initially overjoyed to discover his long-lost mother Julia (Anne-Marie Duff), who is everything Aunt Mimi isn't. Fun-loving and flirtatious, Julia introduces John to rock n' roll and teaches him his first chords on banjo, much to Mimi's horror. Although she'd never admit it, she fears her carefree sister will hurt John again.
At the same time, John starts playing music with two younger boys: slight, skinny Paul McCartney (Thomas Sangster) and sardonic George Harrison (Sam Bell) who will have a massive influence on John's future.
Nowhere Boy takes a while to find its groove: at the screening I attended, some found the film's first act too tedious and walked out. But when the film places Lennon's developing ambitions against the twin poles of Mimi and Julia, it snaps into focus.
It helps that director Sam Taylor-Wood snagged some top-shelf talent to bring these characters to life. Aaron Johnson nails John Lennon's essence: his performance is almost uncanny in its depiction of the Beatle's charisma and almost bipolar mash-up of cruelty and compassion. Kristin Scott Thomas' Aunt Mimi initially seems like the villain of the piece – she coldly rebuffs Lennon when he seeks comfort in the wake of her husband's death – but Thomas expertly peels back the layers of Mimi's character, showing her vulnerability beneath the steely persona.
Kudos also to Sam Bell who makes the most of a very minor role. Anyone who has ever seen A Hard Day's Night will recognize how accurately Bell captures George Harrison's personality in just a few lines.
Great Performances Save Sam Taylor-Wood's Nowhere Boy
With Nowhere Boy, scriptwriter Matt Greenhalgh clearly hoped to do for John Lennon what his previous film Control did for Joy Division's Ian Curtis. No dice: Lennon was either too complex or Sam Taylor-Wood just isn't as good a director as Anton Corbijn. Nowhere Boy isn't a bad film, but it isn't a great one either. It gets a 3/5.
Dominic von Riedemann - Dominic is the Animated Film Feature Writer, and winner of 11 Suite 101 Editors' Choice Awards.
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