Submarine

UK Release: 18th March 2011

Watched in cinema: Wednesday 4th May 2011

Rating: 15

Runtime: 1hr 37mins

IMDb Plot Summary: 15-year-old Oliver Tate has two objectives: To lose his virginity before his next birthday, and to extinguish the flame between his mother and an ex-lover who has resurfaced in her life.

My Review: I was so happy that I got to see this film at last as I’ve been looking out for it since March when it first came out. Finally this week my local cinema decided to show it and my anticipation was not futile!

This off-beat film was one of the oddest, but most brilliant film I’ve seen in a while. It is hard to explain the humour without actually seeing it, but it was so funny but not in a can’t-breathe-I’m-laughing-too-much kind of a way, but in a witty, subtle, intelligent way that I love about British humour and British films like Submarine.

The acting was top-notch. Craig Roberts who plays Oliver impressed me in Being Human and the off-shoot show Becoming Human, (which he starred in) but his performance in Submarine was absolute first-class. The boy has a gift.  

Yasmin Paige, who played Jordana, his love interest in the film, was also fantastic, playing the quirky bitchy girl that isn’t exactly ‘popular’, but that everyone has respect for and does what she says. Her character was quite ruthless and first and almost hard to like, portrayed through Oliver’s eyes. But as the story went on it was clear to see that she was just a 15-year old girl, scared because her mother might die. It was at moments like these that we, the audience, got to see how messed up Oliver is, and quite egotistical. Yet his naivety made me emphasize with him, and see why he does what he does. 

A special mention should go out to the music, which was amazing, as was Richard Ayoade who not only directed, making (I believe) Swansea look stunning, but wrote the screenplay. It’s likely that in the novel written by Joe Dunthorne it was split up into Prologue, Part 1, Part and Epilogue, so I’m very glad that they included this feel in the film. The music was also used comedically throughout giving it a nice artsy home-made feel, self-conscious, yet innocent, sort of like Olive himself.

The conclusion was not completely how I would of envisioned it, but as it was a coming of age story it is hard to finish satisfyingly without going overboard on the cheese. It was sweet and touching and summed up the entire feeling of the film.

Score: 9/10