if you’re searching for a film this weekend where you can sit down and be completely engrossed within a great story that’s beautiful and sad and lovely and happy, then nowhere boy might just be what you’re looking for.
the story follows the teenage years of john lennon, who was raised by his aunt mimi and didn’t meet his mother, julia, until he was 15. when he does meet julia, we discover that she is just as young and vibrant as he is, and lennon battles with the idea of loving a woman who completely abandoned him as a child.
julia teaches lennon about rock ‘n’ roll and playing music as he plays out being a bad boy rocker yet still a completely vulnerable teenage boy.
aaron johnson, who plays john, did a really lovely performance of finding john’s identity. at some points in the film, if you close your eyes, it’s very believable that you’re listening to the actual john lennon speak. anne-marie duff, who plays john’s mother, also does a really beautiful job of being a completely lovable and fun, yet out of control mother.
the music in the film is really catchy and wonderful with tunes from elvis, screamin’ jay hawkins, and jerry lee lewis, while the production design is very soft and almost out of focus, which plays nicely with london’s gray skies.
we see the beginning of “the beatles” when they weren’t the beatles yet, and we also get to know a young paul mccartney (played by thomas brodie-sangster, the little boy from love actually, who does a lovely job.) it was very fascinating to see paul and john’s relationship form, with completely opposite personality and motives, yet personal connections through death.
i highly recommend this film. whether you’re a lennon fan or just in need of a really good story.
