A
Richard Ayoade film
(15)
Director
Richard Ayoade
Writer
of film – Richard Ayoade
Writer
of novel - Joe Dunthorne
Broadcast
2010
Featuring
Adrienne O’Sullivan, Claire Cage, Yasmin Paige
Reviewed
by DJ Forrest
Oliver Tate (Craig
Roberts) is a 15 year old schoolboy going on 50. The film is based around the time of duffel
coats and leather briefcases for school, VHS and cassette tapes, old tellies
and big hair, and is a coming of age film.
The story is based
around the life of Oliver Tate, an only child who thinks a lot but talks very
little. He lives with his parents at the
top of a steep hill. Oliver is very much
a loner, and possibly a little autistic, he keeps a notebook and scribbles
details down wherever he goes, has dates and times. He knows that when the light is on fully in
his parent’s room, they’ve not had sex. His father barely speaks and his mother
searches for excitement elsewhere, in the arms of an ex. Oliver wants his parents to work things out,
and does everything he can to make sure that happens.
With a birthday fast
approaching, Oliver doesn’t want to face it still a virgin. He fancies a girl in his class, Jordana
Bevan, but it’s unclear if she really loves him back or if he’s another
conquest to notch on the bedpost. At
first the pair appears to be very awkward together. Although she holds his hand it’s unclear
whether Oliver can really appreciate the whole girlfriend boyfriend relationship,
without over thinking every possible scenario.
One of the first things
I ever notice in a film is the cast, and I often get a warm feeling of
excitement when I recognise someone from the world of Who, regardless of
whether this is Torchwood, SJA or some other spin off or connection through a
writer. So as much as I knew that Claire
Cage and Adrienne O’Sullivan were in the film, it was a surprise to see Yasmin
Paige playing alongside the lead role as Jordana Bevan, the girl Oliver (Craig
Roberts) fancied.
Obviously she was much
different in persona to Maria in SJA, and her character had a penchant for
matches, rather than an interest in extra-terrestrial life forms but
nevertheless, Yasmin for me was still a delight to watch. Adrienne O’Sullivan (TW: Small Worlds)
appeared very briefly as Jackie. Claire
Cage (TW: Sleeper) appeared as a news reporter in a scene where Oliver imagined
how the world would be if he no longer existed, and who would mourn his
passing.
The film has highs and lows;
Oliver’s state of mind doesn’t really lift much throughout the film. It’s funny and it’s sad, it’s happy and it
has a few deep moments, it has laugh out loud moments too. I found it enjoyable but for those looking
for action packed sequences, then this isn’t for you. It has a steady pace throughout the story.
The narration of the
story in the film is all from Oliver Tate (Craig Roberts), and there’s lots to
listen to, to understand his frame of mind, where he’s coming from, why he’s
desperate for his family to work out their differences. How he feels about his life in general. I enjoy films like this, where you’re
transported through the mind of another, very much in the way that ‘The
Outsiders’ was put across, from the mind of one particular character.
So from that point of
view, this is an excellent film and one everyone must watch at least once,
although I’ll be watching it again as I didn’t realise Ben Stiller was in the
film till I saw the credits. Sorry Ben!
Richard Ayoade is an
actor, writer and director, and starred in the comedy series The IT Crowd.
No comments:
Post a Comment