Love That Boy

Directed by Andrea Dorfman

Canada, 2003 (fiction, 89 minutes, colour, English)

Also known as "Bejön ez a srác", "J'aime ce garçon"

Image: © Mongrel Media

Film Description:
"Love That Boy is the story of Phoebe, a sophisticated and adventurous but socially inept overachiever, unrecognized in a world run by C students. Phoebe's life is totally dominated by her 'To Do Before Graduation' list. When her best friend dumps her two weeks before graduation, she points out that Phoebe's list is missing one essential thing—a boyfriend. Not wanting to be alone at graduation—the most important day of her life—Phoebe begins an ill-fated quest to find a boyfriend, with hilarious results. Then she inadvertently falls in love. The only problem is, he's 14..."
-- Telefilm Canada (source)

Film Credits (partial):
Written by:	Andrea Dorfman, Jennifer Deyell
Produced by:	Jan Nathanson, Christopher Zimmer, J. William Ritchie
Principal Cast:	Nadia Litz, Adrien Dixon, Nikki Barnett
Cinematography:	Thomas M. Harting
Film Editing:	Michael Vernon
Music:	Mike O'Neill
Production Company:	imX Communications

(sources)

Notes about Love That Boy

Filmed in Halifax.

(sources)

Quote by the Director

"We had a definite sense of colour and design. We wanted the film [Love That Boy] to have a certain look -- something a bit exaggerated, like the characters, but cohesive."
-- Andrea Dorfman (source)

Quotes about Love That Boy

"Both Parsley Days and Love That Boy were shot in Halifax. Even though the city is not named in either film, both traverse an urban landscape instantly recognizable as Haligonian to those familiar with the city. As much as Dorfman exploits Halifax's distinctive vernacular architecture to ground her characters in the everyday lived space of the Martime city, she also captures the bohemian feel of the place, with her young characters orbiting around the city's university, music, and arts scenes."
-- Andrew Burke (source)

"From goofy beginning to emotionally satisfying end, Love That Boy is a triumph of talent over limited means. Young Canuck helmer Andrea Dorfman tops her amiable debut Parsley Days with a sophomore effort that is stylish, funny and very well acted. Pic reps best entry yet in the ambitious 'Seat 3A and 3C' series, which has Nova Scotians meeting on planes as the basic premise. Halifax-shot tale of an overachiever who suffers from arrested development in the romance department may be too small-scaled to hit all destinations, but given the right sendoff it could click with hip, urban auds."
-- Ken Eisner (source)

"There's a squirm factor in Love That Boy. It begins as gentle irritation—and blossoms into a boil—but by the time the movie ends, there is nothing left but the comfort of having spent the better part of two hours engaged in a smart, non-condescending and altogether hilarious human experience."
-- Katherine Monk (source)

"Love That Boy, the second feature by Canadian director Andrea Dorfman, is the latest in a long line of teen flicks about unhappy smarty-pants girls who get straight As in school but are incapable of getting a date. And a fine addition to the genre it is, with new twists added to the old story and a protagonist who doesn't have to get a make-over or dumb herself down to get over her social ineptitude."
-- J. Kelly Nestruck (source)

"After a disastrous date with another overachiever type, [Phoebe] finds herself gradually attracted to the mild, easygoing boy next door who is always mowing the lawn. Unfortunately, he's only 14. It's with this thoroughly unsuitable romance, beautifully understated by young Adrien Dixon as Frazer, that Phoebe gets her comeuppance and learns her life lesson. And it's with this development, the conversion of Phoebe into a human being, that the stylized, surreal charms of [Andrea] Dorfman's movie seem to falter and lose their way, en route from overturning romantic comedy to being one. Love That Boy is maybe a little self-consciously quirky, but it gives up quirkiness too soon, in favour of moulding the narrative into an arc."
-- Liz Nicholls (source)

Bibliography for Love That Boy

Articles from Newspapers, Magazines, or News Websites

Cranston, Marla. "Summer of love: Filmmaker Andrea Dorfman is in town at the helm of her Parsley Days followup, this one a tale of young—very young—love." Halifax Daily News, July 9, 2002.
Eisner, Ken. "Love That Boy." Review of Love That Boy. Variety, November 3, 2003.
Flinn, Sean. "O'Neill makes sweet soundtrack for Dorfman's Love That Boy." Halifax Daily News, September 18, 2003.
Gee, Skana. "Love That filmmaker: Dorfman scores again with Love That Boy." Interview with Andrea Dorfman. Halifax Daily News, September 18, 2003.
Gee, Skana. "A quirky story of romance and to-do lists." Review of Love That Boy. Halifax Daily News, January 22, 2004.
Lacey, Liam. "Odd duck waddles a bit." Review of Love That Boy. Globe and Mail, November 14, 2003.
Monk, Katherine. "Director eschews fashion masters: Andrea Dorfman has no hang-up with bargain rack." Interview with Andrea Dorfman. Vancouver Sun, November 15, 2003.
Monk, Katherine. "Forbidden-love story skilfully rides the edge: The relationship between a 20-something college student and a 14-year-old boy rises above the tawdry." Review of Love That Boy. Vancouver Sun, November 14, 2003.
Nestruck, J. Kelly. "January-May romance patchy but charming." Review of Love That Boy. National Post, November 14, 2003.
Nicholls, Liz. "Stylized, surreal charms of Love That Boy don't go all the way: Fey quirkiness gives in, to film's narrative needs." Review of Love That Boy. Edmonton Journal, January 23, 2004.

Web Sites about Love That Boy

"IMDb: Love That Boy." Internet Movie Database, Inc. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0328078/combined.