Finally reaching US shores this year to celebrate his 70th birthday, Nowhere Boy tells the story about John Lennon’s formative teens in Liverpool before he became the Pop music icon the West recognizes. It’s no secret that I have never been a Beatles fan, I understand their contributions, I just refuse to revere them. However, I was willing to check this out because it covered territory I wasn’t familiar with, it looked interesting from a design angle (namely being accurate) and I had been wanting to do something social with my co-worker Peter; he’s a huge fan and my go-to guy on Beatles trivia.
There’s nothing to spoil from what I’m going to disclose afterwards. Everyone on the planet knows how the story ended with Lennon.
Nowhere opens in Liverpool during the mid Fifties. Residing with his aunt and uncle, John is a standard teenager: surly, rebellious, moody, etc. He’s often busted at school and upsets his Aunt Mimi through his lewd behavior. Yet underneath it all, he just needs to find something to harness all this restlessness. After his uncle suddenly dies, John’s mother re-enters his life. Curiosity and longing mostly motivate him to get re-acquainted with her. Despite his mother being a toxic presence, she acts as his initial muse by teaching him how to play the banjo. This leads to the formation of John’s first Rock & Roll band (what the English called Skiffle) the Quarrymen. The rest is history as the film closes when John and mates leave for Hamburg. The 1994 flick Backbeat speculates those years.
I applaud the movie on its eye on detail: the clothing, the hair and technology. John’s cruel wit is captured very accurately; he was a mean drunk from I had read. The tension/rivalry he’d experience with Paul also gets its start then. They needed each other though. Paul had the talent while John had the charisma. George is present but sadly not Pete or Stu, the latter is mentioned at the end. The relationship between John and his mother does have some creepy Oedipus moments which will probably raise endless debates.
Worth Seeing? Music-Bio pictures are tricky. They automatically appeal to the fan base while being crapshoots to the general public, the Beatles’ story has been covered pretty thoroughly, few surprises remain. Then comes the question of music usage to compound the cliches. However, I do recommend it even though I prefer Paul’s post-Beatles music any day. Nowhere is a great drama about a young man coming into his own and closes at the right moment.