Sometimes a film comes along from nowhere, slipping in under the dark and stormy waters of the big screen sea, cruising past the swell of blockbusting supertankers, to rise to the surface as one of the best films of the year. Submarine is such a film, a brilliantly funny and stylistically flourished feature from that autistic guy from The I.T. Crowd. Yes, this is the film debut of Richard Ayoade, better known as his sitcom alter-ego Moss, as well as supporting roles in a host of the coolest cult shows on British TV to boot. In his spare time, Ayoade’s been wracking up quirky music videos for the indiest of indie bands on the music scene, and here, he finally gets to explode onto the big screen, depth charging your heart with the cleverest film you’ve ever seen about a 15 year-old boy losing his virginity.
The story, based on the Joe Duntorne’s novel of the same name, follows schoolboy Oliver Tate, an eccentric in a duffle coat, whose musings on the world, and Swansea’s industrial estates, reveal him to be dour and calculating, yet hopeful and extremely funny. With his shanks of dark hair and sly smile, newcomer Craig Roberts is brilliant as Tate, anchoring his precocious intelligence with humility and excellent comic timing. His Tate is a cross between Amélie Poulain and Harold of Harold & Maude, a worldweary oddball out to make things better.
