Submarine

Submarine is the feature debut of writer/director/comedian Richard Ayoade, a coming of age film set in Wales in the 1980's. It follows Oliver Tate, an intelligent, quirky, unpopular teen on a mission to keep his parents from splitting up while at the same time navigating the waters of young romance.

Oliver is very much in the tradition of young protagonists that present themselves as smarter and more mature, but in reality have a lot of growing up to do yet. There's more than a little of Bud Cort's Harold of Harold and Maude, and Jason Schwartzman's Max Fischer of Rushmore fame in Oliver, as well as a direct reference to The Catcher in the Rye.

At the opening of the movie, we learn that Oliver has a crush on Jordana, a mischievous classmate. In his narration, he rationalizes it by saying she too is reasonably unpopular, and the very act of the two of them getting together would raise his status. He finds his in with her by tormenting an overweight girl with her. This leads to their tumultuous affair, in which Jordana calls all the shots, and they do such things for fun as burn off Oliver's leg hairs with matches.

Meanwhile, back at home, Oliver's parents are in a quiet crisis. His father (Noah Taylor), has quit taking his antidepressants and his mother (Sally Hawkins) has recently reconnected with a former lover, now neighbor, (Paddy Considine), a bemulleted New Age mystic. Oliver sees the writing on the wall and begins scheming to keep them together.

That's all I'll say about the story. Craig Roberts, who plays Oliver Tate is fantastic, as is Yasmin Paige, who plays Jordana. The rest of the cast is damn good too. I'm always happy to see Noah Taylor in things.

There are plenty of awkward moments to laugh at too. His parents are not the best parents, but they love Oliver nonetheless. A great moment in awkward parenting comes when Oliver's dad, learning he has a girlfriend, gives him a mix tape of love songs. He also well-meaningly includes some good breakup songs on the tape, for the inevitable.

Stylistically, it's not unlike Wes Anderson's films, but much more organic. I think Ayoade is drawing from the same French filmmakers' styles as Anderson, not just knocking off Anderson. Tate imagines himself as the protagonist of a French New Wave picture.

There are a couple moments in which director Richard Ayoade's previous television work shows through. He directed Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, one of my favorite British shows ever made. In Darkplace, Ayoade played a character who was a terrible actor. A running gag in the show was watching him never being able to figure out what to do with his hands. There's a great bit in Submarine with that gag, too.

Submarine is a very funny, moving, dark-ish comedy for you to go see, especially if you need a breather from all the explosions and superheroes coming out this time of year. You should all check your local showtimes.