Submarine

There have been a variety of Wes Anderson-esque films that have come along since Anderson's breakthrough film Rushmore. Jared Hess seems to be one of the most successful to use that kind of style, but there are many more who have not been so lucky. Richard Ayoade, however, has managed to bring an equally neurotic, slightly less detail oriented take on the Anderson style to the screen in the form of his directorial debut, Submarine.

The film follows Oliver Tate, played by Craig Roberts, a schoolboy who has a highly inflated sense of himself, while still seeming to understand that he is actually fairly mediocre, bordering on unpopular. He falls in love with a fellow outcast named Jordana (Yasmin Paige), who plays on his affections and gets him to do whatever she wants without really having to give anything of herself. Oliver is trying to juggle this relationship while also trying to keep his parents relationship going when his mom's old boyfriend, a new age mystic/psychic (played hilariously by Paddy Considine) moves in across the street. Eventually, though, both Oliver and his dad are on the brink of losing the women they love, and have to step up to the challenge of winning them back.

Submarine is a hilarious film. Oliver's awkwardness, Jordana's power complex, his parents quiet desperation all get played out fantastically. Ayoade, who is best known for playing Maurice Moss on The IT Crowd, has comic timing in his blood, and I think his directing only pushes Submarine into the next level of hilarity. Paddy Considine is one of my favorite British actors, and I know will always be a solid addition to anything, and Roberts and Paige, as Oliver and Jordana are perfectly awkward teenagers looking for love and trying to find their place in the world. The film is fantastic, and well worth a viewing.