In the film About a Boy, Hugh Grant plays Will Freeman, a single, early-middle-aged slacker who lives luxuriously off the royalties of a Christmas song written by his deceased father. He's a solitary man with a single life priority: himself. (Hence the name Will Freeman.) Will spends his days shooting pool, surfing porn, and having his hair "carefully disheveled" at the salon.

The movie opens with Will watching the game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. The question is posed, "Who wrote the phrase 'No man is an island'? John Donne, John Milton, John F. Kennedy, or Jon Bon Jovi' "Jon Bon Jovi. Too easy!" Will answers to the television. "And, if I may say so, a complete load of bollocks." From there he recounts his philosophy of life:

In my opinion all men are islands. And what's more, now is the time to be one. This is an Island Age. A hundred years ago, for instance, you had to depend on other people. No one had TV or CDs or DVDs or videos or home espresso makers. In fact, they didn't have anything cool. Whereas now you see you can make yourself a little island paradise. With the right supplies and more importantly the right attitude you can be sun-drenched, tropical, a magnet for young Swedish tourists. And I like to think, perhaps, I'm that kind of island.

Soon Will is revealed to be shallow, pathetic, and miserable. But through meeting a twelve-year-old boy and his severely depressed mother, Will is drawn out of himself and into a whole network of authentic relationships. The boy, Marcus, teaches Will that one person alone isn't enough. Even two are inadequate. You need plenty of backup.

By the end of the movie, enriched with many new friends, Will restates his philosophy of life: "Every man is an island, I stand by that. But, clearly, some men are part of island chains. Below the surface of the ocean, they're actually connected."