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Wondrous Oblivion Details

2003 Certificate PG
  • Rated:
  • 60
  • from 2004 members

Young Jewish eleven year old David Wiseman loves cricket. He has all the equipment, but unfortunately none of the skill. When a Jamaican family move in next door and set up a cricket net in the garden David can't believe his luck- they even offer to coach him.However, this is 1950s England, and when the neighbours start to make .. Read more

Starring Sam Smith, Delroy Lindo, Emily Woof, Stanley Townsend
Director Paul Morrison
Genres Children, Comedy

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Wondrous Oblivion

Young Jewish eleven year old David Wiseman loves cricket. He has all the equipment, but unfortunately none of the skill. When a Jamaican family move in next door and set up a cricket net in the garden David can't believe his luck- they even offer to coach him.
However, this is 1950s England, and when the neighbours start to make life difficult for the newcomers- David is forced to make choices between fitting in and his new friends. David's own family were immigrants from wartime Germany- having also suffered bigotry in Britain, difficult choices have to be made.

Starring Sam Smith, Delroy Lindo, Emily Woof, Stanley Townsend
Director Paul Morrison
Studio MOMENTUM PICTURES
Run time DVD: 1 hr 41 mins
Certificate Certificate PG
Genres Children, Comedy
Language DVD: English
Released DVD: 20 Sep 2004
Production year: 2003
Format DVD
  • Critics' reviews (6) of Wondrous Oblivion

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  • 2 stars out of 5

    Until Lagaan: Once upon a Time in India, successful cricket movies were as rare as England victories over the West Indies. But this rite-of-passage tale has more in common with The Final Test or P'Tang, Yang, Kipperbang than the Oscar-nominated Bollywood blockbuster. The problem is that writer/director Paul Morrison can't decide whether to focus on 11-year-old Sam Smith's desire to silence bullying schoolboys by improving his batting skills or on his Jewish mother Emily Woof's crush on Caribbean neighbour Delroy Lindo. Moreover, instead of tackling racial prejudice in suburban London in the early 1960s, Morrison opts for a cosy feel-good approach that neither charms nor convinces.

    • Radio Times
  • Eleven-year-old David Wiseman (Smith) is daft about cricket, but not terribly good at it. At school, he's plonked out... read more on Time Out

    • Time Out
  • Most helpful member's review of Wondrous Oblivion

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  • 8 out of 8 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 4 stars

    What more could you ask for in a movie?

    A gentle comedy that doesn't thrust the race issue down your throat, although the intergration of black Caribbean's into white London is one of the central issues of the movie.

    The other issue is CRICKET!! What more could you ask for in a movie? I left the movie wanting to see more of the characters,and you can easily see this as a TV series. Also the music is excellent as well.

      • scramblingman from herts
  • Most recent members' review of Wondrous Oblivion

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  • 3 out of 4 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 4 stars

    Excellent

    This is a lovely film about a lonely little Jewish boy who is crazy about cricket (but hopeless at playing), the Jamaican immigrants who just moved in next door (and who are also cricket mad) and the racial prejudice of 1960s England. It would be great if cricket truly was such a unifying force that it could overcome such prejudice, but either way, this is an uplifting film and well worth seeing.

      • Alan from Shropshire
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Rating breakdown

2,004 Member ratings
  • 100
155
  • 90
191
  • 80
305
  • 70
335
  • 60
362
  • 50
247
  • 40
163
  • 30
117
  • 20
88
  • 10
41

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    • Wondrous Oblivion
      Young Jewish eleven year old David Wiseman loves cricket. He has all the equipment, but unfortunately none of the skill. When a Jamaican family move in next door and set up a cricket net in the garden David can't believe his luck- they even offer to coach him.
      However, this is 1950s England, and ...