Oliver Tate imagines the reaction to his untimely death. The teenager’s parents would be distraught; his teachers would bemoan the early loss of one so talented; his schoolmates would hold vigils, carrying earnest signs with such lines as “RIP. We envy the angels.” Such a scenario is highly unlikely, however. Oliver (Craig Roberts) carries a briefcase to school and uses words like “Fabian.” Yet the clever but pretentious boy manages to charm the audience so much — despite making some pretty terrible decisions — that viewers should be sad to see him saunter offscreen.
The teen, living in early 1980s Swansea, Wales, is trying to start a relationship while saving that of his parents. He has his eye on the bad girl, a pyromaniac named Jordana (Yasmin Paige), who uses Oliver to make her last boyfriend jealous before realizing there might be more to this geeky substitute. Oliver’s attempts at romance are sweetly hilarious — he makes a multicourse dinner, including shrimp cocktail, the night he believes he and Jordana will finally become intimate.
| On screen |
| ‘Submarine’ |
| 3.5 out of 5 stars |
| Stars: Craig Roberts, Sally Hawkins, Paddy Considine |
| Director: Richard Ayoade |
| Rated: R for language and some sexual content |
| Running time: 97 minutes |
His parents aren’t so close. Oliver judges their marriage by their bedroom dimmer switch: If the light is bright the next morning, he knows they haven’t made love. His father (Noah Taylor) suffers from clinical depression, while his mother (Sally Hawkins) spends more and more time with their new neighbor, a man she loved before she was married. Oliver sees right through Graham (Paddy Considine) — he’s a New Age motivational speaker who makes claims like “I am a prism.”
“Submarine” is a funny, witty, sometimes sentimental coming-of-age film, based on the novel by Joe Dunthorne. It’s written and directed by Richard Ayoade, who’s starred in two hilarious and underrated British sitcoms, “Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace” and “The IT Crowd.” He brings a gentle touch to his complicated, confused characters, capturing that time of youth when some so desperately want to make their own world but are still helpless to do so. Roberts could be a star in the making. And it’s always nice to see the Golden Globe-winning Hawkins on screen; her presence, no matter what she’s playing, is always comforting.
The film starts better than it ends — it begins to lose Oliver’s quirky narration, which puts us inside the head of a very singular creation. Though Oliver can be cruel as only clueless teenage boys can, he also has something of the poet about him. As he tells us, “Every night I come to the same place and wait until the sky catches up with my mood.”
