In retelling the early life of John Lennon, it may seem a bit unreasonable to expect the filmmakers to delve too far into his discography and the relationships he had with his famous bandmates, but it's also intensely difficult to remove those hugely important facets of his life from the story altogether. But that's exactly what Nowhere Boy does. And yet, amazingly, it completely pulls it off. Here we're asked to look at Lennon as just another kid from Lancashire with big dreams, and the filmmakers often help us forget rather than remember who Lennon became. It's really more of a coming-of-age story wrapped in the loose trappings of a biopic. Around the halfway point, though, thanks to some incredibly nimble writing and spot-on dialogue, it's nearly impossible to mind that we're looking solely at John Lennon, rebellious young adult, instead of John Lennon, rebellious musician. We're briefly teased with the introductions of Paul and George near the end, which lets us know that some of this is being done with its tongue planted firmly in cheek. Which pretty much captures the spirit of Lennon to a tee, wouldn't you say?
