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)
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)