"Will" (Hugh Grant) lives a life of leisure living off the royalties of a Christmas song written by his grandad. He dates a succession of women but usually neither party want much more than a quickie. He realises that all of the interesting people have grown up and into relationships, marriages and family life - so he decides that it's time for him to have a son too! An imaginary one. Then he encounters "Fiona" (Toni Collette) and her son "Marcus" (Nicholas Hoult) and they begin to bond a little - even if the boy does bring out his (and my) best Herod tendencies. Despite himself, "Will" isn't a complete waste of space and when a near tragedy strikes the life of the bullied "Marcus", the two start to bond over afternoon editions of "Countdown" on the television and slowly all concerned start to realise the benefits of family - shiny new trainers, warts and all. The dialogue is quite observationally witty here and as much of the story is told via a punchy narration from Grant and Hoult, we get an additional degree of honesty to their story that augments the acting quite amiably. Hoult is the star, no doubt about it. His characterisation of an increasingly savvy and persistent child is engaging to watch and though I really did struggle to get through the cheese-fest that is the conclusion I did rather find myself wanting an happy ending. It's easy to see why Grant was Hollywood material and here he effortlessly delivers a gentle feel-good film tinged with the odd bit of reality. One that still works well.
