Submarine

Oliver Tate (Craig Roberts) is a teenager with a lot to deal with. His classmates think he's gay, his parents think he has mental issues, his father sometimes stays in bed for weeks and his mother has started going out to see an ex-boyfriend.

A UK and US co-production that takes place in a small sea-side town of Swansea, Wales, this is a quirky, dark comedy about adolescence, and the pitfalls of young love based on the novel by Joe Dunthorne.

What’s great about Submarine is definitely the actor's performances and the story. Although the characters are all a bit odd and have unusual personalities, the actor's portrayals really keep you hooked into the movie, especially the two main teenagers who are a lot of fun to watch.

Oliver wants to fit in but prefers to isolate himself from society. Only one thing will solve his problems. Being very analytical like his oddball father he decides to pursue a girl from his class, Jordana Bevan (Yasmin Paige), whose personality is not exactly sweet or sympathetic but is just anti-social enough for him to have a chance with, and therefore be accepted by his school mates as being normal and cool. 

He can’t seem to get up the nerve to approach her and fails several attempts, but Jordana, it turns out, is attracted to his nerdy shyness and aggressively pursues him. After many awkward moments they finally begin dating and he really begins to develop feelings for her. Unfortunately their short and unusual courtship is interrupted when Oliver must deal with his emotionally repressed parents who are on the brink of an infidelity. Horrified, Oliver takes it upon himself to intervene with hilarious results. Meanwhile, Jordana is having problems with her own parents and needs Olivier’s support. 

There is a whole subplot with the adults of the film that is very funny and beautifully portrayed by Noah Taylor from Shine (1996) and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), Sally Hawkins recently from Happy-Go-Lucky (2008) and Made in Dagenham (2010), and Paddy Considine recently from The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) and Hot Fuzz (2007) comically balancing the film with the pitfalls of marriage equivalent to the teen story.

It’s all done with dry humor, emotional insight and great character studies. The movie feels very much like other quirky coming of age comedies like Lars and the Real Girl which is one of my favorites and a must see if you haven’t seen it yet.

If you liked quirky coming of age movies like Submarine try these other very good films in the same genre; Lars and the Real Girl (2007), Ben X (2007), 500 Days of Summer (2009) and It’s Kind of a Funny Story (2010).

JP