The film received critical acclaim, with a 93% 'Certified Fresh' rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 187 critics, and an average rating of 7.71/10. The website's critical consensus states, ""About a Boy" benefits tremendously from Hugh Grant's layered performance, as well as a funny, moving story that tugs at the heartstrings without tilting into treacle". Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 75 out of 100, based on 38 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". The film, with a budget of US$30 million, grossed a worldwide total of US$130,549,455. In December 2002, the film was chosen by the American Film Institute as one of the ten best movies of the year. The film received a B+ CinemaScore from American audiences. Almost universally praised, with an Academy Award-nominated screenplay, "About a Boy" was determined by "The Washington Post" to be "that rare romantic comedy that dares to choose messiness over closure, prickly independence over fetishised coupledom, and honesty over typical Hollywood endings." "Rolling Stone" wrote, "The acid comedy of Grant's performance carries the film he gives this pleasing heartbreaker the touch of gravity it needs".