Submarine 2011

Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: That rare teen comedy where the kids aren't gorgeous, the hero isn't heroic and the object of desire has a lot of reasons why she isn't necessarily desirable. Read more

Glenn Kenny, MSN Movies: It's so relentless in its piling on of snappy effects... that it kind of plays like The Graduate going through steroid psychosis. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: Significance can be overrated, and "Submarine" makes the most of its whimsical triviality. Read more

David Germain, Associated Press: With Submarine, it's what lies beneath that counts, and it's a grand voyage tagging along with Oliver as he finds them out. Read more

Sam Adams, Time Out: Submarine may not be epic cinema, but in a modest way, it's close to perfection. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: "Submarine" is one of a kind. Read more

Tom Keogh, Seattle Times: Ayoade is better at establishing a road map of what "Submarine" is supposed to be rather than pulling all its elements together cohesively. Read more

Nathan Rabin, AV Club: Submarine is the film Youth In Revolt should have been, an achingly sad yet ribald account of a hyper-verbal oddball's ascent/descent into manhood. Read more

Kerry Lengel, Arizona Republic: It's a familiar story, yes - but we all have to chart our own way through it. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: "Submarine'' has its own specific miseries and darkly funny vibe. It makes quirkiness briefly seem like a good thing again. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: Ayoade owes a debt to Wes Anderson, but the parents here are so beautifully written, and Hawkins and Taylor particularize them so well, that the movie manages to hold its own. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: I suggest you take a chance on "Submarine" and find out if its particular comic angst rings any bells, be you male or be you female, Welsh or American, 16 or 61. Read more

Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle: An exercise in briny Welsh Weltzschmerz that tracks the inner and outer worlds of a confused teenage boy. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: Ayoade is at his most inventive, and least derivative, in a goofy mode, but Submarine, for the most part, is not in his best range. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: The result is a small, delicate comedy that depends on a continuity of tone that it pulls off. Oliver may not live happily ever after; but he manages to live happily enough here, and that's just fine. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: The film is so self-conscious it seems to be dictating your every reaction. Read more

John DeFore, Hollywood Reporter: Wales-set coming-of-age film is stylish, very funny debut for writer/director Richard Ayoade. Read more

Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times: Writer-director Richard Ayoade has the knack. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: The main problem with Submarine is that Oliver is not a likable protagonist. Read more

David Denby, New Yorker: A delicate and potent new British comedy. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: What is a surprise here is the intensity of the young actors - Roberts has a particularly perfect scowl - and the freshness of the Welsh seaside scenery. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: A charming indie that combines dreamy aspiration with mucky, hilarious reality. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: The excruciating and the hilarious mingle nearly to perfection in this marvelously visualized and deeply felt British film... Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: Jumpy and desperate to eschew restless boredom, the whole thing looks like a series of rock videos. Read more

Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: For an unreliable narrator, Oliver's story is reliably entertaining. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: The setting is Wales during the mid-1980s, but the emotions and characters would be at home in any country in any year. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: It's a self-confident work for the first-time director, Richard Ayoade, whose purpose I think is to capture that delicate moment in some adolescent lives when idealism and trust lead to tentative experiments. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Richard Ayoade, the British comic making a remarkable feature debut with his adaptation of Joe Dunthorne's 2008 novel, blends mirth and malice with deadpan brilliance. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: Ayoade has an evident gift for the kind of slightly offbeat comedy that's about the differences between a character's self-perception and the way the world sees him. Read more

Dana Stevens, Slate: Submarine isn't a perfect film, but it's a terrific first one. Leaving the theater, you feel you've been taken in hand by a director of tremendous promise, and you can't wait to see what he does next. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: After an OK start, "Submarine" sinks beneath sloggy pacing and a general lack of originality. Read more

Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: In its own right, "Submarine" is one of the best movies of the year. Read more

Jennie Punter, Globe and Mail: These things could have easily resulted in a mass outbreak of broad comedy, but the actors play their roles completely straight. In Submarine, you truly ache through the awkward moments -- even as you're laughing out loud. Read more

Dave Calhoun, Time Out: Sees sparks of imagination flying from most scenes. Read more

Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice: Though Submarine isn't a dull head-movie, amid the bells and whistles, Roberts seems less its star than its cameraman. Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: There are no really profound insights in "Submarine" except this: That you'll never really know another person unless you're willing to take the plunge. Read more