Nowhere Boy

Editorial

It's easy to forget that John Winston Lennon was once just another lad stuck in the drab confines of Liverpool, in 1950s England. Similarly, you could be forgiven for being unaware of Lennon's unconventional upbringing and the sudden death of his wayward mother — a loss that would haunt the then 17-year-old for the rest of his similarly tragic short life.

Despite the naff title, Sam Taylor Wood's Sunday-arvo-flavoured debut brings these aspects of Lennon's personality to the fore, in a biopic cum love story that radiates period detail and character.

Not only does the film look and feel like 1950s Merseyside, the source material (Lennon's half-sister's recent book on the subject) and its adaptation (from Control scribe Matt Greenhalgh) provides for a near note-perfect recounting of life with the Lennons, with only a whiff of melodrama.

Rising star Aaron Johnson, in particular, embodies the very essence of Lennon's young, tortured soul. Likewise, Duff is a revelation as the doomed, fun-loving Julia. It's these two relative newcomers — and their crackling onscreen chemistry — who keep the thing feeling urgent.

Whether audiences take to it on the day after Christmas — or whether, like the Beatles' 1960s festive "trip" (TV's Magical Mystery Tour), it proves a bit of a turkey-time turn-off — only time will tell. But, as Lennon might've said, "Not bad, though."

Ed Gibbs