It's 1955 in Liverpool. John Lennon (Aaron Johnson) is a 15-year-old living with his Aunt Mimi (Kristin Scott Thomas) and Uncle George (David Threlfall), who have been his surrogate parents since he was five. He is especially close to his uncle, a very playful man. When George unexpectedly dies, John's strict and unemotional aunt tells the boy that now it's just the two of them, and she orders him to his bedroom if he's going to cry anymore. That's just how she is and he knows that she'll never change. Aunt Mimi expects John to do well in school but he'd much rather be drawing or doodling. Her call to responsibility doesn't register at all with this rebellious youth who is still searching for his passion.

Imagine John's excitement when he learns that his mother Julia (Anne-Marie Duff) lives nearby with her three young children and common-law husband. Their reunion is a happy one, and John begins seeing his mother regularly. Julia teaches him how to play the banjo and when he picks up a tape of an African-American singer, Julia is the one he plays it for; they listen together. In a crowded movie theatre, John is enthralled by the adulation given to Elvis Presley and soon thereafter he adopts the famous singer's hair style and swagger. As soon as he is proficient on guitar, John starts his own band called the Quarrymen and his mother is there to cheer him on in one of his early public performances. This gifted musician then adds Paul McCartney (Thomas Sangster) to the group and is impressed with his talent and his ability to write original material.

This well-done and engaging drama offers a refreshing change from Ray and other musical bios that spend a great deal of time charting the self-destructiveness of singers and songwriters caught up in addiction on the road to success. In her directorial debut, Sam Taylor-Wood focuses on the family secrets that settle like an oppressive burden on the back of the young Lennon. In one of the most emotionally explosive scenes, Mimi and Julia square off confronting the truth about John's father and the reasons why the five-year-old boy was taken in by his aunt and uncle. The director elicits three sensational performances from the leads: Aaron Johnson shines as the leader of his band and as a creative young man who learns how to channel his rebellious nature and emotional turmoil into pop music; Kristin Scott Thomas is remarkable as the chilly disciplinarian who eventually does change her ways; and Anne-Marie Duff is impressive as Lennon's juicy mother who sings, dances, and lavishes love on her son.

Nowhere Man gives us precious hints of the people and forces which forged the creative genius who would become John Lennon of the Beatles. You can't ask any more than that from a before-they-were-famous musical biopic.


Special features on the DVD include deleted scenes; a featurette "The Making of Nowhere Boy; and a featurette "Nowhere Boy: The Untold Story of John Lennon and the Creation of The Beatles."