Submarine

[Nolando]

Released By: Anchor Bay
Released On: 10/04/2011
Director: Richard Ayoade
Cast: Noah Taylor, Paddy Considine, Craig Roberts, Yasmin Paige, Sally Hawkins
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The Film:

The descriptors “quirky”, and “coming-of-age” generally mean that a movie is going to be a trainwreck of suckitude. Fortunately, in the feature film Submarine, the “quirky” is more Wes Anderson than Amelie, and the “coming-of-age” is more…well, it's not Harry Potter.

Submarine is Richard Ayoade's (IT Crowd) first feature film, and it shows a lot of promise. Oliver (Craig Roberts) plays a quiet, creative sort of English school kid who drifts through life imagining everything as a Super-8 film, until he bonds over bullying a classmate with the slightly askew Jordana. Hanging out with Jordana and trying to impress her enough to convince her that taking his virginity seems like a good alternative to dealing with home life; the marriage between his marine biologist, pothole obsessed father and once-stunning mother seems to be slowly disintegrating, thanks for the camaro-mullet sporting self-help guy who has just moved in next door. It doesn't help that his school chums aren't really friends at all; they're more content to pick on Oliver for having a girlfriend than they are being happy for him. As the pressure from all sides grows more intense, Oliver realizes that living in his make-believe world isn't all that it's cracked up to be, and he struggles to hold his own relationship and the relationship of his parents together.

Sounds like something that would be written on the back of the movie case, huh? Pretty much. There's no good way to describe Submarine. I can't tell you what a lot of Wes Anderson's films are about either, or why I like them, but I do. Submarine fits into the same mold, primarily because of the cast of solid players. Virtual unknown (on this side of the pond, anyway) Craig Roberts plays the lead role with just the right amount of straight-laced naivety, which Yasmin Paige balances perfectly with a blank-look humour. The supporting cast is also strong, with veteran actor Noah Taylor as Oliver's father, and Paddy Considine tearing the laughs out of you as the self-help King of Mulletude. Ayoade does a fantastic job keeping the scenes moving along, and if this film is any indication, will kick out a few more decent films in the future.

Video/Audio/Extras:

Anchor Bay presents Submarine in a swell-looking 1.85:1 transfer with a DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack. The video looks just grand, with Ayoade's seemingly temperature controlled palettes coming through well, and no artifacts or blemishes to be found. The audio track is well done with a good mix of dialogue, effects and score, though you shouldn't expect too much from the surrounds.

There are also a few extras on the disc. Deleted and Extended Scenes contains 9 scenes and runs about thirteen minutes.

The Making of Submarine features the cast and crew of the film discussing their characters and getting the film made.

The Final Word:

Some of the best films are the ones that you like for no describable reason. Submarine isn't one of the best films that I've seen, but it's an enjoyable and humourous flick that doesn't disappoint.

Click on the images below for full size Blu-ray screen caps!

[Nolando]

What, no pic of Paddy Considine? Good review, Mark - I've had this one on the radar for a bit (or should that be sonar?). Wes Anderson's stuff equally attracts and repels me, too - incredibly well-grounded characters and solid casting crashes into hyper-pretentious art-school B.S.

[Mark Tolch]

Yeah, this one was decent. The review is short, because it's hard to discuss what it's about, outside of what I wrote. Worth seeing though, for sure.

PS, Ian does the blu-ray caps....Paddy would've been front and centre. :-D