Oliver Tate is about to come of age.
Writer/director Richard Ayoade’s “Submarine” follows familiar ground but does many unique things with the journey. A sensitive 15-year-old boy, Oliver Tate (the wide-eyed Craig Roberts), struggles to find love while his parents struggle to stay together. Set in England in the 1980s, the film has a timeless look clearly influenced by the French New Wave of 1950s and 60s. If you pay close attention to set design, in Oliver’s room you can see hints of his influences. I think I noticed a sketch of Woody Allen by the boy’s bed. Oliver even takes his hip girlfriend to a screening of “The Passion of Joan of Arc” while trying to impress her with copies of “King Lear,” the works of Nietzsche, and a dog-eared copy of “The Catcher in the Rye.”
Ayoade delivers a very self-aware coming of age movie that favorable compares to “Juno” and “Ghost World.” His youthful cast headed by Roberts as the intense Oliver and Yasmin Paige as his edgy girl Jordana is matched by older counterparts in key roles. Sally Hawkins, who just can do nothing wrong these days, plays Oliver’s mother, and Noah Taylor crawls into the father role. While Hawkins tries on a slightly more depressed version of her turn in last year’s perfect “Made In Dagenham,” Taylor gets more to do as he sips hot lemon water and looks awfully low while sharing certain subtle profundities with his son. Taylor’s Lloyd Tate is a marine biologist whose skills are not being properly used. During a lecture he gives to a class, Lloyd must answer a constant question persistently asked of him: Just how deep is the ocean? He patiently answers that it is 6 miles deep although even as deep as 7 miles at certain spots. Later when Oliver tells him that he thinks his wife may be cheating on him with an old boyfriend, he casually tells his son that he’s not worried, because the guy is just some “bloke” that he stole his mother from. There’s not one ounce of pride in that statement, it’s just a fact. Lloyd tells it like it is. It’s the passion that is lacking and driving his wife from him.
Oliver methodically snares a girlfriend in Jordana Bevan. Through careful analysis of her situation, Oliver computes his chances with her and makes his play. And to everyone’s surprise, his gamble pays off. Jordana takes him on as a pet project, which suits him fine, at first. And it is fun seeing this romance develop.
Jordana masks insecurity with sarcasm and a worldly outward persona. She smokes and likes to play with fire. The two bond around their disaffected feelings that manifest themselves in random acts of arson. But as the two teens hang out and experiment, Jordana begins to have serious feelings for Oliver. She’s built up a wall and then starts to let her guard down. But Oliver’s not ready for anything serious, at least, that’s what he believes. “Submarine” follows the relationship as it unfolds pausing to take in those critical moments that will leave their mark on Oliver and Jordana forever. And given the troubles being experienced by the kids’ parents, very little direction can be given them as feelings of love and loss ebb and flow uncontrollably. Through it all, I kept thinking of my own kids and how my problems shouldn’t become theirs. This is a movie that will have you reflecting on your own life.
“Submarine” is witty and clever, but not as entertaining as the trailer would have you believe. It is not a comedy in the traditional sense, although it’s certainly funny. Rather, the movie is a quintessential coming of age drama worth revisiting to catch the subtext. Ironically set in the 1980s when John Hughes films were all the teen rage, writer/director Ayoade doesn’t make the adults into brainless parodies. It is as though every character has been written and then rewritten with a view toward making them fully dimensional. In the end, we understand that love follows a familiar path for us all, young and old. It’s never too late to come of age.