At 8 30 am on a bitterly cold January morning in Park City, Utah I sat clutching my Starbucks watching a wonderful period piece movie when the teacher on screen bawled out a name and then I suddenly remembered why we had decided to make this film part of our Sundance schedule. It was Nowhere Boy: a re-telling of John Lennon’s late teenage years in Liverpool in the 1950’s, and is anything but another rock-star’s biopic per se (which evidently has ruffled the feathers of some diehard fans) but it is a wonderful and touching account of John discovering his emotional maturity at an interesting stage of his life.
He had been abandoned by both of his flighty parents at the age of 5 and brought up by his straight-laced aunt Mimi who was ferocious in her determination to ensure he got both a solid education and a healthy dash of respect for her way of life. This was a great contrast to the attitude of his good-time party-girl mother, who turned up again and unsettled the apple cart.
The remarkable Kristin Scott Thomas in a powerful performance as ‘Mimi’ is probably the reason why this potential hit movie has been held back for release in the US until Award Season, as she so deserves a nod for this one. So too does Anne-Marie Duff as Julia the mother. Whereas the delightful Aaron Johnson as young Lennon, who will send a shiver down your spine more than once, and who is undoubtably destined for a very big things, has already received one award already. Sort of. At 19 years old he is now dating the Director, 46 year old Sam Taylor Wood, who has just given birth to their baby.
R.T.V. This reminds you of how good Brits are at making period pieces, and this one has the added edge for many (?) of us in being able to even remember this particular time in our own culture/lives.
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