"Lovely dinner, isn't it? Bit heavy on the grapes, but still."

In About a Boy, Hugh Grant plays Will, an upscale Londoner who has managed to achieve all the rewards of adulthood with none of the responsibilities. He doesn't work; the royalties from a song his father wrote decades ago support him quite comfortably. He has no dependents, nobody to whom he owes anything. Hell, he's never even had a relationship that's lasted longer than two months. As he tells us in the opening narration, he is an island. (The Island of Ibiza, to be specific.)

Will really has no reason to grow up, at least not until he meets Marcus (Nicholas Hoult), a twelve-year-old with problems. He has a depressive single mother (Toni Collette) and his geekiness, unfortunate clothing and utter lack of a self-preservation instinct make him a target for bullies at school.

Marcus has to essentially blackmail Will into hanging out with him. Will is surprised to find himself enjoying the boy's company, and caring about what happens to him. Despite his best efforts, he starts to think about somebody besides himself.

"No, I swear. I'd much rather be in this movie than Harry Potter. Honest."

All of which sounds like it could be cloyingly schmaltzy, but the beauty of About a Boy is that it avoids the trap of cheap sentiment and instead manages to convey genuine human emotion. Let's spread the credit for that small miracle around. The script, by Peter Hedges and directors Chris and Paul Weitz (based on the book by the wonderful British novelist Nick Hornby) tells its story in small moments. There's never a big speech or defining incident that lets us know this is the Important Life Lesson of the film. Just realistic characters that we get to know and like and watch grow through their interactions with each other.

The performances are key as well. Nicholas Hoult displays a fresh and natural talent as Marcus. He's a likable, completely guileless kid. And Hugh Grant seems born to play charming-but-immature-with-an-underlying-decency. When, early in the film, a friend says she always suspected he had hidden depths and he answers, "No, I really am this shallow," we believe him. Later, when he discovers more to himself, we believe that too. And what makes it even more interesting is that the early, callow Will often tries to act sincere and the later, sincere Will tries to act callow. (Does that make sense?) It's a subtle performance, one of the best I've seen in a while, and I hope it's remembered when awards time rolls around.

Hugh couldn't help but feel he would love the child more if it didn't insist on wearing pink socks with a green sleeper.

Did I mention this is a comedy? No? Well it is. And it's funny.

Where About a Boy falters, if only slightly, is in the pacing. It's a little slow in parts. (The easy joke would be "About a Boy is about twenty minutes too long," but of course I would never go for the easy joke.) I'm all for giving characters time to think and grow but, well, we don't need to think about Will's journey quite as much as he does and there were times when I just wanted him to get on with it. But that's me. I'm not always the most patient person in the world.

Small matter. About a Boy's story is unique, unpredictable and well told. Go. Go now, before the summer blockbusters chase it out of the theaters.

Gorilla Pants rating: 3 out of 4 bananas