38 out of 39 people found the following review helpful:

Wah Wah

SAI81 from from Tonbridge, 13th August, 2006

Actor Richard E Grant has attracted an excellent cast to his heavily autobiographical directorial debut but the end result is something of a mixed bag. Set in Swaziland at the end of empire Wah Wah has a mass of plot for a 100 minute film; alcoholism, divorce, cancer, first love, the end of empire and an amateur production of Camelot all feature. It's this that most hurts the film; Grant has so many strands that none ever really feel fully fleshed out (Gabriel Byrne's alcoholism arrives out of nowhere and then vanishes with some pills). However Wah Wah is a charming film and has much to recommend it. The adult cast are excellent. Miranda Richardson puts in a strong, if brief, showing as Byrne's first wife and Byrne is also excellent but Emily Watson, who flounces in about 20 minutes in as the brassy American Ruby (Byrne's second wife) is inspired, complete with authentic accent Watson acts everyone else off the screen. Everyone that is but Celia Imrie, whose incredibly stuck up, uproariously funny, Lady Riva makes you wish she was more than a cameo. Unfortunately Nicholas Hoult (as Grant's alter ego) still can't act. He's taller now but otherwise is still the vacant mannequin of About A Boy. Camelot and a budding romance (the other side of which is the director's daughter Olivia) are all but brushed aside and both are missed as they would add depth to Ralph's life outside his family which is sorely needed. I'll certainly look at Wah Wah again on dvd, there's lots to admire, not least Grant's direction which really is one of the stars of the film, and i hope there will be copious deleted scenes as this feels like an abbreviated version of a better film

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10 out of 10 people found the following review helpful:

once more with feeling

michael wade from london, 28th January, 2007

Re-living your life in a book is one thing, but doing it on screen where actors play your own history before your very eyes, all shot in the very places the events actually took place, well that could get a bit spooky. Richard E Grant makes a fine job of calling on the emotions when they help and tamping them down where they don't, ably assisted by a first rate cast. Also starring Swaziland. If you want the real tear jerker stuff, watch the accompanying documentary - everyone reckons the experience was 'life changing'. I wouldn't say the film itself reaches that level, but it is a sensitive and moving film that deerves viewing.

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9 out of 9 people found the following review helpful:

So surprised!

A Customer from East Sussex, 17th December, 2006

When I chose to see this movie, I did not have any real expectations, other than a quiet night in. However this movie got my undivided attention quickly and I was absorbed. It had laughter and sorrow, it presented an array of characters so I never got bored with any of them. I would recommend this movie.

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8 out of 8 people found the following review helpful:

poor

A Customer from leeds, england, 31st March, 2007

I switched this off half way through. It was very dull and i would not recommend it.

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didn't get to the end...

A Customer from london, 20th February, 2010

...got bored half way through - repetitive story and unconvincing acting. Would have been even less interested if it hadn't been based on Richard E Grant's life.Disappointing.

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Dull Dull more like

Whipster from from Shropshire, 26th January, 2010

It may have won the critic's plaudits but unfortunately I found this tale of a spolit 'kid' growing up in colonial Swaziland incredibly dull. The cast boasts numerous British heavyweights but they fail to save the uninteresting storyline - spoilt boy with selfish parents who split up and remarry etc - end of. 2 stars.

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Lovely!

rcoldbreath from , 23rd August, 2009

This is simply a superb film. It takes a little while to get going (our hero, Ralph, needs to go away to boarding school and suddenly age a few years before the thing really settles into its stride), but once it does, it's glorious - by turns deeply touching and deliciously comic. It's a snapshot of one particular piece of history in Swaziland, which seems to be the reason a couple of reviewers on here didn't take to it - but if you can cope with the idea that people have not always spoken the way we speak now, or thought the way we think now, then I think it is hard to be anything but charmed by this film.

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wah Wah

richah from , 5th August, 2009

Dull dull dull - a terrible film, not worth the film that it is made on!!! Sorry harsh but true. Even the director/main actor on a recent interview said that this film was one of his biggest mistakes and he couldn't believe that he had made his life into a film!

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