Review of Submarine (2011) by Jonathan B — 08 Jul 2012

First off let me say I'm a fan of Richard Ayoade. He plays Moss in The IT Crowd.

Submarine is one of those films you watch the previews for and know your going to like and hope that when you finally see it that it's doesn't play into all the bad things that could have made it more of a genre rip off than a sincere story telling effort.

Submarine, I think, in different hands could have come off as a hollow, pretentious Wes Anderson wannabe film. But here, Ayoade handles everything with a care and craftsmanship that doesn't make the film just a mimicry of the quirky, dry humor and flawed characters that Wes Anderson perfected.

Overall, it's an often humorous story of teen angst, awkwardness and anxiety. Essentially it's a coming of age story but manages to cover his parents broken marriage and his quest to reunite them. It really resembles the plot of the Squid and the Whale, only waaaay less depressing and uncomfortable (mom divorcing dad, possibly finding love, dads a teacher, kids trying to cope and reunite them, set in the 80's etc).