Film Reviews

Submarine

• Rating:
• Director: Richard Ayoade
• Starring: Craig Roberts
• Details: UK/USA / 97mins (15A).

The opening film of this year's Jameson Dublin International Film Festival, Submarine is a delightful coming of age drama directed by The IT Crowd's Richard Ayoade, which he has adapted from Joe Dunthorne's 2006 novel. Anyone who enjoys their angsty teen comedies with touches of Adrian Mole and Wes Anderson's Rushmore will get a bang out of this.
Oliver Tate (Roberts) is an eccentric fifteen-year-old boy growing up in a provincial Welsh town. He's got the usual problems: his parents are like alien life forms to him and he's useless when it comes to girls. As luck would have it, the girl he's got an eye on - Jordana (Paige) - has just been dumped and she's looking to make her ex jealous. Oliver is only too happy to help but just as that relationship kicks off, he suspects his mother (Hawkins) is cheating on his dad (Noah Taylor) with next door neighbour Graham (Considine) and he has to divert all his attention into keeping his parents together.
The time setting isn't specified but Submarine has the 80s all over it: the clothes, the innocent love, and the soundtrack (by Arctic Monkeys) smacks of the era. What separates Submarine from other teen comedies is its constant tone shifts: it veers from an off-beam romantic-comedy to downbeat drama without it ever jarring. Oliver's humour gets you onside - his quirky narration introduces us to him and his place in the world - but then he sets about muddying the waters with his flippant attitude to troubles in Jordana's life: he begins to come across a little self-obsessed and selfish (one of the early scenes sees him bully a large girl just to impress Jordana). But credit to Ayoade for being unafraid to show us both sides of his hero: no one is perfect - we can all be nasty from time to time.
Casting directors never get the kudos they deserve but whoever discovered Craig Roberts deserves the praise. With his 'please say hello to me' expression, his face alone would be perfect for Oliver but Roberts' mature performance outshines his puppy dog features. Almost losing himself in his duffel coat, Roberts is a perfect marriage of innocence and darkness. His co-star isn't too shabby either: Yasmin Paige exudes sexuality and danger but underneath it all is just another lost little girl.
Submarine lacks direction in its final stages and Considine's Graham is a little unbelievable to get on board with but, because Ayoade built up so much goodwill with his characters beforehand, this dip in form is easy to ignore.

Review by Gavin Burke