Film Reviews

Nowhere Boy

• Rating:
• Director:
• Starring: Aaron Johnson
• Details: UK/Canada TBC (15A).

The story of The Beatles just keeps on giving. In the past few years we've had Backbeat, The Killing Of John Lennon and Across The Universe; Nowhere Boy, which depicts John Lennon's teenage years right up to his departure for Hamburg, shows that there is still some stories to be rooted out. Despite insights into a young Lennon's life that will interest the casual fan, it's the performances that make Nowhere Boy memorable.
Sam Taylor Wood's film had two jobs: the shaping of John Lennon the man and John Lennon the musician. The latter is dealt with a by-the-numbers approach as a 15-year-old John Lennon (Johnson) becomes acquainted with rock n' roll and skiffle, learns to play the banjo, forms The Quarrymen and is introduced to Paul McCartney (a childlike turn from Sangster, 'Bright Star'). It's the former that proves far more interesting. The rebellious Lennon lives with his stuffy, Classical Music-loving aunt Mimi (Scott Thomas) but learns that his mother Julia (Duff) lives nearby. Lennon drops by unsure what to expect but the two hit it off immediately, with Julia introducing him to music and teaching him to play the banjo. But as questions arise as to why he's living with his aunt and not his mother, Lennon learns of a dark family secret.
In adapting Julia Baird's memoirs, Matt Greenhalgh (who penned the Ian Curtis biopic Control) hints at a whiff of sexual tension between the young Lennon and his manic-depressive mother, and Taylor Wood can't resist using Mother over the closing credits. She and her writer go too far, however, in suggesting the flirty friendship between Lennon's mother and McCartney sow the seeds for the future riff. The story has a stop/start opening but it settles down to a strong middle before a disappointing Coronation Street climax. But where the story lacks cohesion, the performances don't lack anything.
As Lennon, 19-year-old Aaron Johnson delivers a mature performance - all mouthy and quick-witted. Greenhalgh and Taylor Wood can't help immortalising their subject but aren't afraid to show the nasty side of the man either, and this is where Johnson shines, lashing out at friends and family when he doesn't get his way. But the women of the story are the strongest characters and boast the best performances. Scott Thomas exhibits that typical post War stiff upper lip sensibility, while Duff has more room to manoeuvre with Julia: feisty, unhinged and struggling through her marriage with David Morrissey, Julia has a spotlight on her throughout and Duff takes it in her stride

Review by Gavin Burke