Released just in time for John Lennon’s 70th birthday (but almost a year after it came out in the UK), Sam Taylor-Wood’s Nowhere Boy portrays the early life of eventual nowhere man John Lennon. What it really ends up doing best, though, is telling the story of the two women who shaped the icon most throughout his youth.
In many ways, Nowhere Boy is a typical coming of age story — the rebellious John Lennon refuses to wear his glasses, is a chronic truant and becomes increasingly involved with Liverpool’s burgeoning rock and roll scene (fans of rockabilly could definitely take a few style cues from the costumes).
The cinematography is tight and focuses in closely on the actors, emphasizing the powerful performances. Kristin Scott Thomas is superb as Lennon’s uptight yet adoring aunt Mimi, while Anne-Marie Duff does a fine job as her unstable, rock and roller sister (and John’s biological mother) Julia. As Lennon, Aaron Johnson provides the shakiest performance of all, slipping in and out of an occasionally flawless imitation of Lennon’s unmistakable cadence. His inconsistencies continue throughout the film, and we are never given a solid read on just what it is that makes him tick.
For a film that purports to elucidate the origins of one of the 20th century’s most fascinating minds, it can be difficult to parse out the work’s exact takeaway. Aside from a few clever character introductions (No way! That’s how John and Paul met?), Nowhere Boy doesn’t do much to establish a cohesive history of the Beatles, or of Lennon himself, for that matter. Instead, it tends to get sidetracked by tangential story lines that seem removed from Lennon’s own narrative. This is problematic for a biopic.
The original music by Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory (of Goldfrapp fame) is where the film shines brightest, and the flawlessly curated soundtrack alone almost makes it worth seeing. However, the real meat of the story is in the conflict between Mimi and Julia. Julia’s flightiness is the perfect foil to Mimi’s rigidity, and the movie experiences its best moments when Scott Thomas and Duff share the screen.
Nowhere Boy
Directed by: Sam Taylor-Wood
Starring: Aaron Johnson, Kristin Scott Thomas, Anne-Marie Duff
Rated R, 98 min.
2.5/5 Stars
