REVIEW: NOWHERE BOY
AS a fully paid-up member of the British modern art establishment, the teenage life of John Lennon seems an oddly mainstream choice of subject matter for artist Sam Taylor-Wood's directorial feature film debut.
Look closer though and the soon-to-be Beatle and Turner Prize nominee share much in common - both were art college students who ploughed a doggedly singular furrow after being abandoned by their mothers at an early age.
As an unshakeable Beatles fan, I'm happy to report that NOWHERE BOY (15) is much more assuredly handled (and fun) than the clunky, syrupy title would suggest.
Charting the 17-year-old Lennon's transformation from schoolboy to fame-hungry rocker, the film focuses on the two influential women in his life and the tug of war for his affections.
Anne-Marie Duff and Kristen Scott Thomas give sympathetic turns as Lennon's estranged mother Julia and adoptive Aunt Mimi respectively, and, despite a shaky start, newcomer Aaron Johnson nails Lennon's quick-witted sarcasm.
There are blink-and-you'll-miss-them nods to Strawberry Fields, I Am The Walrus and even comedian Jimmy Tarbuck, while the scenes between Lennon and baby-faced upstart Paul McCartney (the superb Thomas Brodie Sangster) are a real treat.
Nowhere Boy ends where 1994 biopic Backbeat begins, but it is not a film about the Beatles - indeed, the "B" word is wryly avoided.
Though my plausibility sensors peaked at times, this is a charming film about the perennial problems of parenthood and teenage angst. Tellingly, as a veteran of many-a school band myself, I left the cinema feeling 17 again - a neat trick worth the admission price alone. - MATT HUMPHREYS
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