Film Review: Submarine

5 Stars 

Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs, Frank Darabont’s The Shawshank Redemption and Richard Kelly’s Donnie Darko are all examples of directional debuts in cinema going right. Now, Richard Ayoade is making his own claim to this super-clique with his first venture, Submarine. And it’s a very strong claim indeed.

  The screenplay, also courtesy of Ayoade (with insight from Michael Cera apparently), has been adapted from a Joe Dunthorne novel. Submarine tells the tale of Oliver Tate (Craig Roberts), a young boy looking to lose his virginity with class mate Jordana Bevan (Yasmin Paige) who aside from her “spontaneous bouts of eczema” is Oliver’s dream girl. This story isn’t to be confused with a Welsh re-mastering of American Pie. Ayoade ensures this by cutting down the sex by about 90%.

  At its heart, Submarine is a realistic coming of age story. The romance between Oliver and Jordana is consistently charming and for anyone who can remember the awkwardness of early courtship, it’s also oddly nostalgic. Oliver tries to juggle a crumbling home life alongside a relationship with an unconventional girlfriend. But, he’s far from one of the overused superheroes we’ll be seeing over the coming Summer. This makes him all the more lovable and yet, all the more likely to fail and Richard Ayoade never lets you believe that the happy ending you’ll be rooting for will be easily attained.

  Told from the fourth-wall-breaking-inner-voice of a 15 year old boy whose optimism and enthusiasm toward our simple world is contagious, Submarine will have you laughing from the opening. That’s not to say that your heart won’t ache and your eyes won’t well up. Ayoade is already very clever at playing with emotions and knows exactly how to get you to love an underdog, as is the British way.

Verdict:  After seeing the likes of True Grit, The Fighter and The King’s Speech this year it’s refreshing to be wowed by a movie with a suspected £2 million budget. Submarine is a clever comedy that stands apart from any other predictable romance. Also, watch out for executive producer Ben Stiller’s cameo.

Alex Hughes