Submarine: An eccentric British romcom with an original edge
By Chris TookeyLast updated at 8:37 AM on 18th March 2011
Submarine (15)
Verdict: Offbeat British comedy
Rating: 
Submarine is another British romcom, and it’s both more adventurous and less commercial: a self-consciously quirky rites-of-passage comedy about a pale, gloomy 15-year-old Welsh schoolboy (Craig Roberts) trying to lose his virginity with his comically unromantic girlfriend (Yasmin Paige), who’s bad-tempered and suffers from eczema.
At the same time, he’s attempting to help his depressed dad (Noah Taylor) — yes, that’s the second depressed dad of the week — to rescue his none-too-bright wife (Sally Hawkins) from the clutches of their preposterous New Age guru neighbour.
Original: Submarine, starring Craig Roberts, is sure to attract a cult following
First-time writer-director Richard Ayoade is a talent to watch, and his film is always amiable.
Our schoolboy hero is endearingly awkward, not unlike the hero of Bill Forsyth’s Gregory’s Girl, and as engagingly pretentious as Sue Townsend’s Adrian Mole.
However, there are many moments when the plot meanders, and a few when it grinds to a halt. The style — indebted to Rohmer, Truffaut and early Godard — isn’t truly reflective of a modern 15-year-old boy’s culture, even if he is supposedly addicted to the chansons of Serge Gainsbourg.
The happy ending also feels too conventionally art-house: it’s a dead ringer for Truffaut’s 400 Blows.
Because Submarine seems geared more towards middle-aged film critics than real teenagers and fails to deliver fully on its comic potential, it probably won’t be a mainstream hit; but it will deserve a cult following as an artier, British equivalent to 500 Days Of Summer — an eccentric romcom with an original edge.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/reviews/article-1367492/Submarine-An-eccentric-British-romcom-original-edge.html#ixzz1HEF1kAC5
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