Even though it's just a bunch of videos and images shown with the recordings of Kurt's interviews, it gives a perspective about the early years of his life, heard from his own lips with pictures of places trying to make you visualize what it was like to live through what he was talking about.

I'm not a huge fan of Nirvana. I am, however, a huge fan of Kurt Cobain. I first watched this movie because I was starting to get into some more Nirvana songs, and Kurt intrigued me. It started out with a lot of emotion, but I spent basically the entire film wanting to see pictures and video of Kurt. Part of what makes this movie so artistic is the fact that there are none. You do, however, hear plenty of Cobain's voice, not in music, but in talking. About his life. You learn about his days as a rambunctious little kid and in elementary school, to when his life started to suck. It's actually a very emotional film.When I first finished the movie, I was depressed for a couple days because I had seriously considered suicide many times from the time I was seven or eight years old, and I didn't like the movie. Over the next couple of days, the movie really sank in, and I realized what a great character Cobain was, and what an artsy film Kurt Cobain: About a Son is. It really gives you as much detail about Cobain's life as you could ask for. I'm not the first one to say this, but it really does make you "feel like you are Kurt Cobain." If you are into Nirvana or Kurt Cobain, absolutely check this movie out. If you're not, this 8/10 rating does not apply to you.

A quiet, slow, but haunting meditation on the late rock hero may be an acquired taste for pre-existing fans, but ultimately ends up being a haunting character study regardless. Why this documentary really sticks out is in it's approach. Guided merely by audio clips of one of Cobain's last, and most in-depth interviews, the director shows long and lingering images of his surroundings while we listen to the troubled, quite misperceived star vent his frustrations with celebrity and recall his modest upbringings.While slightly overlong with silent pauses in between statements, About A Boy is unique, intimate, and ultimately extremely satisfying in distilling some of the myths surrounding this icon and helping to re-humanize him again by giving us the visual counterparts to Cobain's world, without the hype.

I just saw this at the Toronto Film Festival and I wasn't impressed.While I appreciate the audio interviews captured within this film, I question why a movie was made. I would have enjoyed the film as much if listened to on the way home while I was in traffic. It should have been a CD release, not a film.The film revolves around some audio recordings that were compiled from a series of late night interviews. There were very intimate details described by Cobain, including how he did care about what people thought about him (as opposed to what most of his friends suggested), and that he wanted to write some pop songs for their albums, but Sub Pop forced them into keeping the albums underground. Some may already be aware of these facts, but I enjoyed learning of them for the first time. The tone in which Cobain spoke felt genuine, and the pacing of the interviews was perfect. These interviews deserve to be heard by any fan of Cobain's, or Nirvana. They were a great listen.The problem with this film is there isn't a single video clip or photo of Cobain, his family, or Nirvana until the last 30 seconds of the movie. The entire film involves a series of related images that play based on the interviews. An example would be when speaking on his father's job, they show footage of men working at a lumber yard. When Cobain spoke on Seattle, they'd show images of Seattle Record stores, streets and highways. They even had real time images being drawn in the form of artsy cartoons (tree's and grass swaying) during some of the vocals. It was like watching on LONG Fruitopia commercial combined with a film strip about Washington. Unfortunately it also seemed like they had problems clearing for use in this movie.I understand what the director attempted with the images, but it failed in my eyes. It's almost like they brainstormed how they could generate the most revenue from the interviews, as opposed to having a vision upon hearing them. It feels forced, and I don't need to see this again. Literally. If I ever end up with a copy of the DVD I'll either record the audio to CD, or listen to it with the TV off.