Submarine

Submarine desperately does not want to be another run-of-the-mill romantic comedy. But it has no idea how to do that. By trying various way of “differentiating” itself, it turns into a series of scenes that are most effective on their own, but sometimes not even that works. The film is thus occasionally endearing and sometimes funny, but it’s mostly weird. However, it’s not weird enough to at least be consistent in its weirdness, when it falls apart in terms of the narrative (due to the lack of concept in combining literary and cinematically self-reflexive elements). It’s too obviously an attempt to make something like Harold and Maude or Rushmore, while being its own thing and being cool in a nice way, for everyone and, mainly, making it clear to viewers what they should feel at any given moment. Next time, it would quite simply suffice to better develop the characters, instead of which Ayoade works with figures embodying a certain attitude toward life. 55% (06/08/2011)

Oliver Tate is weird, just like the movie about him. But it’s nice to watch something like that from time to time, because it flows nicely and it’s finally something you don’t get to see every day. It’s an atypical romance with a whirlwind of emotions, but thanks to the actors and the locations it is very nice to watch. Plus Yasmin Paige is very pretty and I’d like to see her in a movie again. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen actors in a movie where all it takes is one look and I know exactly what they’re trying to say. That’s what’s so beautiful about movies, and it’s a shame I don’t come across it more often. On the other hand, at least I will appreciate these movies even more. And the finale, that’s simply beautiful. (10/11/2012)

The film has a strange pace and a strange poetry. It's as if it is living in its own world and not wanting to peek into ours too much. The story and the performances are stylized enough to make it clear throughout that it's a different work. But I feel like the film is trying too hard to grab attention with this move, that it's pushing too much to be different and interesting. Some scenes truly are like that, but overall, it's a peculiar collage where some won't see anything in it, while others will find fragments of something unique. (03/23/2014)