Wondrous Oblivion (2004)

Redundant and unnecessary.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

What if you're a studio executive and I come to you to pitch my idea for a film? I tell you it's about adultery, racism and anti-Semitism. Oh, and, yes, I almost forgot: it's mainly a feel good, family friendly movie. You'd think I'm nuts, right? Well, could be, but in a nutshell that's what we have here in "Wondrous Oblivion," an audacious, charming little film in which heart trumps hate as people sort out a crisis in a working class London neighborhood.Set in the 1960s, the story concerns two immigrant families - one Jewish, the other Afro-Jamaican – interlopers in an otherwise traditional white Anglo neighborhood. The catalyst for action is eleven year old David Wiseman (Sam Smith), whose desire to excel in cricket is not matched by his bumbling play on the field. When the blacks move in, two doors down from the Wisemans, the neighborhood gossips crank up their whispered invective, but the newest family on the block presents a wondrous opportunity for David.The reason: as soon as the kitchenware is unboxed, Dennis (Delroy Lindo, one of my favorite actors) sets about erecting a tall net enclosing his entire rear yard so he can coach his daughter Judy (Leonie Elliott), David's age mate, to improve her cricket skills. Before long David makes friends with both and is included in the practices. His skills blossom, and soon he morphs from goat to hero on his boys' school team.Meanwhile, on David's home street, matters turn progressively nasty. Hate notes turn up in Dennis's mailbox, and, because the Wisemans have befriended the West Indians, for the first time after years of living there, they also begin to receive anti-Semitic hate notes. Complicating matters further, David's mother Ruth (Emily Woof), love starved at home, where her husband Victor (Stanley Townsend) is forever preoccupied with business issues, gets the hots for Dennis and pursues him.Can all of this end in anything other than pathos? By golly, the answer here is yes, though it requires of the viewer more than the usual degree of suspension of disbelief. Check out this gem of a film. You wonder why it has taken three years to find domestic theatrical distribution. But then the answer comes: the film no doubt lacks broad U.S. commercial appeal (its exclusive run here was at a neighborhood art house). The acting is terrific all around. Sam Smith, around whom the narrative stands or falls, is a quirky and entirely endearing youngster, and his turn succeeds completely. (In English & Hebrew) My grades: 8.5/10 (A-) (Seen on 12/18/06)

While this could never be considered a true masterpiece, as such, there's plenty going for it. Richly textured, this film goes beyond the realms of superficiality, reaching for a wider base in its coverage of the issues at hand. The relations between the people in the neighbourhood are at once entertaining, riveting and tense - causing the odd chuckle and plenty of lurching in the stomach. The racial tensions and the unnerving line that is drawn between the events and other racial notables in history such as apartheid and the Nazi regime makes this a superb watch - there is one particularly chilling scene (that I will not divulge) that sends a massive shiver down the spine of the viewer. The characterisation is what really makes this film in terms of the actual watching of it, and no character is left without something to analyse on - making it an excellent English film text. Overall, a superb example of cinematic beauty.

"Wondrous Oblivion" is a film that has as its motive one of the most boring sports out there (at least for those who don't play it) – cricket. Thankfully, Paul Morrison's second feature, after the award winning "Solomon and Gaenor" (1999), is not about cricket at all.We are given a coming of age story of a Jewish boy, David (Sam Smith), born in the family of two Holocaust survivors in the 1950s England: Victor (Stanley Townsend), a Polish émigré, and a very young Ruth (Emily Woof), coming from Germany. The boy has an empowering passion for cricket, obvious from his massive card collection of cricket celebrities. However, he is totally rubbish at it. His destiny is to change when a Jamaican émigré family comes next door, and sets up an improvised cricket court. Dennis Samuels (Delroy Lindo) teaches the boy the craftsmanship of the sport, and becomes a close friend of David.All seems a very familiar bad-sportsman-turns-great story, but Morrison's script is ingenious enough not to fall in the stereotypical Hollywood film-making. The boy doesn't end up the great sportsman that we all wish him to be, but learns something greater, something more important in the process. And this is the 'wondrous oblivion' the author intended to deliver… The 1960s as a whole becomes a decade of surprising changes and animosity, and yet all characters seem to remain static in their conception of their beliefs.This is a good film, and it is worth seeing for the original cinematography and a moving performance from Emily Woof ("Passion", "The Full Monty"), which steals the whole film. Watch out for the dance scene with Lindo, which is dominated both by passion, and religious taboos, and it is surprisingly sexy. The only three problems in the movie are the simplicity with each the Holocaust theme is being treated, the poor knowledge of Jewish faith, as well as the stereotypical two-dimensionality of the entire supporting cast. But this applies only for a picky audience."Wondrous Oblivion" is one of those films that one cannot dislike, or at least loathe. Pacing, beautiful, and quite funny really.

This film is simply quite magical.Its subject matter is really racial hatred in Britain in the early 1960s, but it is done against the background of a Jewish boy being taught to play cricket by an Afro-Caribbean who has moved in next doors.The charming script is matched by outstanding performances throughout, with Delroy Lindo being topped only be the young, and excellent Sam Smith.Perhaps most rewarding of all is that there are no cop-outs in this film- the boy doesn't get the girl and win the game. He has to make a choice, which is beautifully handled.