I found it interesting to note that the director (seen below), Sam Taylor-Wood divorced her husband shortly after casting for this movie in fall 2008. Why? She fell in love with her then 18 year old lead actor, Aaron Johnson. They ended up having a baby together and are supposedly engaged to be married. Scandalous!!!! She likes her manmeat to be young. She's 44, I believe and has two kids from her previous marriage and survived two bouts of cancer (colon and breast). Hope they last. But mostly likely they won't. She's gonna be so old when their kid gets to college.
Whatever his personal life, he was terrific as a young John Lennon. He had the Scouse accent down perfectly. He had that wicked sense of humor and the movie does a great job portraying his character's strengths and flaws.
Aaron Johnson was one of the young actors in the Nickelodeon movie, "Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging". I only know that because I have a 10 year old who watched part of that movie. Johnson was also the lead actor in last year's "Kick Ass" which I found entertaining and annoying at the same time. I liked Chloe Moretz the best; she played Nick Cage's foul mouthed vigilante daughter, "Hit-Girl". She's the same chick that played the vampires in the American remake of the Swedish "Let the Right One In" (in the U.S., "Let Me In").
Aunt Mimi, John Lennon's stern aunt is played by Kristin Scott Thomas. She totally portrayed that post- WWII British stiff upper lip demeanor quite well. "Glasses, John!"A far cry from her earliest screen role....
as Prince's paramour, the heiress Mary Sharon in 1986's cinematic masterpiece "Under the Cherry Moon" (nominated for a Razzie for Worst Supporting Actress). Forget about "The English Patient"! "Under the Cherry Moon" had it all - Prince, his mirror-toting sidekick Jerome, cheesy accents, black and white film masquerading as sophisticated but comes off as cheesy and pretentious, horrible acting, and lacy French lingerie.
Yeah, there she is...from this...to Oscar/BAFTA nominee. Whatever happened to Jerome? He was also Morris Day's sidekick in The Time and appeared in "Purple Rain. Look how young she was. Can't wait to see her in "Bel Ami" where she plays one of the duped Parisian society women who gets sexed up by the RPattz.
Another actor in "Nowhere Boy" was this little kid, Thomas Brodie Sangster. Okay, he's not a kid anymore. This is the actor who played Liam Neeson's son in "Love Actually" (the kid who ran after his girlcrush in the airport) and was in that kid's movie, "Nanny McPhee" (what a waste of time that was; Emma Thompson was the main character, some magical nanny with a huge face wart). Now he's 20 and he played the young Paul McCartney who auditions for the Quarrymen after hearing them perform at the Woolton Church Fete, recreated quite faithfully for this movie. After the audition, the two become friends and Paul gains the respect of John Lennon because of his superior musicianship. This is the beginning of one of music's greatest songwriting duos.
Although Sangster didn't really look like Paul, he embodied Paul's character, charming, talented, and eager for attention. He learned how to play guitar left handed for this role. There is a scene in the movie where the Quarrymen are performing and at the end of the song, John Lennon says "Thank you" to the audience while Paul also thanks the audience. You can see a tiny bit of that entitlement, that cockiness with that simple "Thank you". He wasn't even the frontman but he had the balls to do that to Lennon. You could also see Lennon's subtle but startled reaction to this.
The role of Julia, Lennon's free spirited mother is played by British actress Ann Marie Duff who is married to....
James McAvoy!!! Humminah! Seen in "Atonement" as Robbie (oooh), "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" (he played the creepy and kinda pedophilic goat Mr. Tumnus), Penelope" (sucky movie), "Wanted" (badass action), McAvoy will be the new Professor X in the upcoming X-Men: First Class! WTF!!!!
Duff's character was really heartbreaking. She was mostly out of the picture in Lennon's life. Deemed irresponsible by her sister Mimi, Lennon was raised by his aunt and in his mid teens, recently reconnected with his mother. She taught him to play guitar and encouraged him to pursue his musical inclinations unlike his aunt who thought it was just rubbish.
If you know your Lennon/early Beatles history, then you know that his mother's life was tragically cut short in a horrible accident. This traumatic incident underscores many of Lennon's future songs.
A still from the movie featuring the former skiffle band founded by Lennon, the Quarrymen. He is flanked by the actors portraying McCartney and George Harrison (on your right). I liked the scene where George Harrison's character auditions for the band. Beatles geeks will recognize the opening notes of "Raunchy", an old guitar insrumental by Big Bill Broonzy (detailed also in the compilation "Anthology"). Very cool. Likewise, with Paul McCartney's audition, he played Eddie Cochran's "Twenty Flight Rock".
Another repro of a famous early shot of the young Quarrymen. It's totally spot on! Love the string ties! During the end credits of the movie, when you see these original photos, you see and appreciate how well done the movie was in capturing the era.
John Winston Lennon as young boy:
If you're a Lennon fan or Beatles fan, you have to watch this. The performances were excellent by all of the actors.
Here's a little snippet from the movie where the Quarrymen cut and record their first song, "In Spite of all the Danger":
The period clothing and the look of the whole film is very authentic. Loved the wardrobe (there's a cool shot of Lennon and McCartney's pointy toed Winklepickers and brothelcreeper shoes)and the soundtrack as well. This movie now ranks among my favorite music movies. Check it out!
2 comments:
Hi CC, you need to get a side gig getting paid for this stuff.. It's good! Can't wait to see Nowhere Boy.
hey dennis - you think so? :) food and music and pop culture make life so much more fun.
yes, rent this movie now!!!!
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