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Wondrous Oblivion
2003
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 | |
| Genres | Children, Comedy |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Released | DVD: 20 Sep 2004 Production year: 2003 |
| Format | DVD |
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Critics' reviews (6)
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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.
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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
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Most helpful member's review
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8 out of 8 people found this review helpful
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. -
Most recent members' review
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
Not too wondrous
Wondrous Oblivion is a cricket fil based in the early 1960s that tries to deal with issues of race and predujice of the time. The film charts the relationship between a young Jewish boy David (Sam Smith) and older black neighbour Dennis (Delroy Lindo) based on their passion of cricket. As the film progresses themes of racism and lack of racial acceptance of the time leads to a disintegration in the relationship although there is the ultimately feel good ending where the new black neighbours are accepted into the South London community.
Although I did enjoy this film, i can't help feeling disappointed by the ending and the false sentiments it tried to portray. The way everyone all of a sudden welcomes the black family into the community is too idealistic and doesn't give proper consideration to the values and inherent racism of the time. All the actors are solid without any stand out performances. A more bitter sweet ending would have given it more credibility but then the film isn't really pursue it anyway. -
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