NOWHERE BOY directed by Sam Taylor-Wood (2009)

Have you written 'Love Me Do' yet?

I think I missed the point of this movie. I get that it’s about how a fairly well-known singer of an even better known group but, beyond that ,I don’t understand who exactly it’s meant to appeal to.

If you were an alien landing on earth you’d wonder why we should be interested in this John Lennon character.

For reasons best know the filmmakers, the name of the group he was a part of after The Quarrymen is not named nor do we hear a single song by the Fab Four.

Yoko Ono consented to the use of Lennon’s song ‘Mother’ for use on the closing credits, an indication that she endorses, or at least doesn’t entirely, reject. the depiction of her husband’s troubled childhood.

It fictionalises  John Lennon’s life  from the age of 15 to 20 beginning with the death of his uncle George Smith in 1955 to the eve of his band’s 48-night residency in Hamburg in 1960.

A large part of the action revolves around him as teen growing up in Liverpool and rebelling against parents and teachers. For this reason, you can see how it might conceivably appeal to kids of this generation who have similar rebellious urges and are more interested in whether or not they’ve got the X-factor than getting good grades at school.

But it is such a period drama that it hardly falls into the category of a modern teen movie. The skiffle to rock and roll soundtrack is unlikely to appeal to a young audience nor is Goldfrapp’s forgettable instrumental score.

My 15 old daughter liked the movie, although I suspect part of the appeal was that she thought Aaron ‘Kick-Ass’ Johnson in the lead role a bit of a hunk. Director Samantha ‘Sam’ Taylor-Wood obviously thought so too as she had a child by the actor even though he is is 23 years her junior.

The best thing about the film is without question the portrayal of Lennon’s aunt  Mary Elizabeth ‘Mimi’ Smith . Kristin Scott Thomas is superb as his strict, snobby but ultimately affectionate guardian.  In contrast Anne Marie-Duff  is irritatingly superficial as the rock’n’roll loving, banjo-playing mom.

It is as if  Taylor-Wood was in awe of the fact that she was dealing with the life of an icon. There is a predictably about the way Lennon is depicted that never gets beyond scratching the surface of his complex character.Also, if I were Paul McCartney, I’d consider suing over the prissy way he is portrayed by  Thomas Sangster. I know he’s meant to be clean-cut posh-kid but this is exaggerated here.

Overall, this is a flat, and fairly lifeless biopic, that is only interesting because we know who the subject became in adulthood.

What was the name of his band, again? You know the one that gets filed next to Beady Eye of the record racks.

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