FILM REVIEW: 'SUBMARINE'

Staying Afloat in a Sea of Perilous, Quaint Cuteness

(The Weinstein Company) As with many American indie flicks of late — Juno, I’m looking at you — inexperienced directors attempt to mask any sort of plot deficiency with ridiculous amounts of headdesk-inducing quirk, though despite what they may be thinking, they aren’t fooling anyone. Fortunately, Submarine -- a charming, British indie dramedy by The IT Crowd writer Richard Ayaode -- is completely devoid of groan-inducing weirdness and comes off as, dare it be said, charming.

Fifteen-year-old protagonist Oliver Tate (Craig Roberts) is totally weird in an endearingly morbid Harold and Maude-y sort of way. He gets especially so around Jordana (Yasmin Paige), an equally strange classmate of his who seems to have a penchant for heart-shaped sunglasses and teenage delinquency. Naturally, Oliver has the hots for her and resolves to lose his virginity with her before his next birthday, which gets swept up in a greater plan involving his parents (Noah Taylor and Sally Hawkins) and an unusual magician-cum-motivational-speaker (Paddy Considine). Fear not -- in the end, it all makes perfect sense.

Submarine mostly shines when showcasing Jordana and Oliver’s horrifyingly awkward interactions, which remain perpetually enjoyable. Both characters are so painfully awkward that watching them interact is like sticking pins into your eyeballs, but in the best way possible. One simultaneously wants to kick both of them in the throat while awwing and reveling in the weirdly satisfying pain that spawns from their romantic fumbles. The dynamic duo may be quite possibly one of the most precious screen couples seen in recent memory. If only there was a bit more of it in the film; the scenes with Considine and the other supporting characters, while engaging and amusing, don’t have as much of a comedic or emotional spark as the rest of the film.

Hopefully Submarine’s release will put Richard Ayoade more on the map; despite how funny The IT Crowd is, it doesn’t get much buzz stateside, and he’s definitely a talent to watch. In the sea of nauseatingly quirky indie flicks as of late, it’s nice to see that someone knows how to pull in the reins a little bit to tell a peculiar story that definitely fits under that ever broad “indie” label but isn’t frustratingly “pwecious” like many of its brothers and sisters.