I was very sceptical of this film, I am not a fan of ‘quirky indie films’ that try so hard to be quirky, and was rather reluctant to see it. Having finally got around to watching it I conclude that it is a nice film but not as good as everybody said it was and therefore not overly memorable. Oliver Tate (Craig Roberts) is a school boy who spends a lot of time in his own head creating fantastical scenarios and analysing everything. He develops a crush on a girl at school, Jordana Bevan (Yasmin Paige), which eventually evolves and the two have fun setting fire to things and visiting non-romantic places. Meanwhile Oliver continues to spy on his strange parents and their new neighbours and worries that his mum is about to embark on an affair with an old flame Graham Purvis (Paddy Considine). As Oliver turns his attention to his struggling parents his relationship with Jordana flounders and his world starts to fall apart.
There are some great performances in this film, particularly Paddy Considine’s hilarious portrayal of Graham Purvis, a new-age hippy who sports a mullet and leather trousers. Sally Hawkins as Oliver’s mum and Noah Taylor as the father are brilliant and the adults do almost steal the film from the children. However the young actors who play Oliver and Jordana do a great job of keeping up with the calibre of the adults and that is where the strength of the film lies. The dialogue is spot on and Submarine is a charming film in many respects. Richard Ayoade (of IT Crowd fame) wrote the screenplay and directed the film and does a confident job with plenty of sardonic humour injected into the film.
Visually Submarine is very nice, although not perhaps as experimental as I was expecting, and colour is used effectively, the navy and red of the young teenagers’ duffle coats stand out beautifully. I don’t really have any negative things to say about the film but that doesn’t mean it was perfect. Nice is the most accurate word I can use to describe it, which is not meant in a derogatory fashion, and Submarine really is a pleasant watch but is not outstanding. I felt a lot more could have been done with the film but at the same time the subtlety and simplicity is quite refreshing. This is a character driven film with some great performances and enough idiosyncrasies to satisfy the trendy indie audience it aspires to have.
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