Submarine [M]

In his mind, Oliver Tate is a cool, literary genius. But in reality he is socially inept and unpopular. For the summer, Oliver sets himself two tasks: 1) to become a boyfriend and lose his virginity by wooing classmate and pyromaniac, Jordana and 2) to save his parents’ marriage, which he suspects is falling apart as his mother is rekindling an affair with an old flame. 

Usually I have a fair appreciation for the more esoteric and stranger films; Kaboom, The Living Wake, Eagle vs Shark, and The Linguini Incident, but Submarine not so much. I personally found this film to be incomprehensibly metaphoric and just dull and pointless. I found no joy in the bland characters, the script wasn’t bad to give it its dues, but was not strong enough to save the film, and the story in general just did not seem to go anywhere. And I certainly do not agree with the comedy genre in which we find it. I for one did not laugh once. No, this film did absolutely nothing for me. 

In his mind, Oliver Tate is a cool, literary genius. But in reality he is socially inept and unpopular. For the summer, Oliver sets himself two tasks: 1) to become a boyfriend and lose his virginity by wooing classmate and pyromaniac, Jordana and 2) to save his parents’ marriage which he suspects is falling apart as his mother, he believes, is rekindling an affair with an old flame. 

There is a fine line between subtle and dull and, to me, this film felt a bit like a personification of its main character. The movie’s script is very wordy and literary, much like the personality of Oliver. The visual appearance of the film is meek, bland, and unappealing, much like the appearance of Oliver. To say that this film was a spot on reflection of its uninteresting lead character would probably be the nicest and most positive thing that one could say given that, when you think about it, I have yet to see a film that sends my mind into frenzies of that delight. Most films are supported by their characters, but this film supported its leading man. That’s an interesting perception. 

Starring Yasmin Page, Craig Roberts, Paddy Considine, Sally Hawkins, and Noah Taylor, Submarine was pointless film that I found bland, too metaphoric, and even sickly twisted at one point. Filled with romance, pyromania, marriage strife, bland characters, and no progressive story to speak of, you can go your entire life without watching this film and you’ll be just fine.