Submarine

The issue I had with this film, really, was that it was trying too hard- in every aspect. Someone did make the point that it could have been doing that deliberately, to reflect the fact that it was about a 15 year old boy and they always try too hard, but it just made the film not my cup of tea.

First of all, they tried to make the lead character- Oliver Tate- too individual and too rebellious, which eventually resulted in him looking a bit like a show off and an idiot. Other flaws in the character are that he looks magnanimous and patronising- when he gives his classmate advice, the analysis and attempted fixing of his parents marriage- plus 15 year olds don't use words like schism. These qualities are displayed most prominently, however, when he was trying to impress Jourdanna, his girlfriend for the most part of the film. I think that the lengths he goes to to keep her are too extreme- the arson (to the extent of burning his leg hair), and the lack of depth in the emotions that they are feeling. To be fair, this could be an accurate portrayal of teenager's relationships in today's society, but I felt that the film over egged it and it made the transformation of the female lead (when her mother goes into hospital and she cares about her relationship all of a sudden) quite unbelievable.

Speaking of Jourdanna, I felt the film depicted her similarly to Oliver really- too individual, too rebellious, and eventually just a bit pretentious and full of herself. Also her character completely flips round when her mother goes into hospital (although that strand of the film did have potential, they should have made more of it). I thought the emotional overturn of this character did make her seem more real, but I still felt they over egged it too much. 

Talking of over egged characters, the next door neighbours were just made a bit too weird. To be honest, the only character I felt they actually got right was that of Jill Tate- played by Sally Hawkins. I thought she was funny, believable and compelling- as she has been in everything I've seen her in.

All in all, I felt everything in this film took it too far. The shots were trying too hard to be arty and clever (the shots of the kids kissing, the montage of their relationship and the singular shots of various characters), the carnival shots are too dramatic- as is the music in this scene. To conclude, I felt the only aspects of the film worth watching for are Alex Turner's music, which is genius and cleverly placed, and Sally Hawkin's character. Everything else was just too overdone.