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Wah-Wah
Samuel Goldwyn Films LLC / Roadside Attractions


7.8

based on 25 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

based on 7 votes
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MPAA RATING: R for some language and brief sexuality

Starring Gabriel Byrne, Miranda Richardson, Emily Watson, Julie Walters, Nicholas Hoult, Celia Imrie, Julian Wadham, and Fenella Woolgar

Acclaimed actor Richard E. Grant's semi-autobiographical "coming-of-age at the end of an age" story is told through the eyes of young Ralph Compton (Hoult). Set during the last gasp of the British Empire in Swaziland, South East Africa, in 1969, the plot focuses on the dysfunctional Compton family whose gradual disintegration mirrors the end of British rule. (Samuel Goldwyn Films)

GENRE(S):	Drama \| Foreign
WRITTEN BY:	Richard E. Grant
DIRECTED BY:	Richard E. Grant
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: November 21, 2006 Theatrical: May 12, 2006
RUNNING TIME:	minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	UK / France / South Africa

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Los Angeles Times Kevin Crust

Both acidly funny and very moving.

Empire David Hughes

An unforced, engaging and surprisingly incisive account of the disintegration of British rule in Africa.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Paula Nechak

The film is so well acted -- by Byrne, who makes Harry's internalized agonies and continuously carried torch for his ex-wife touching, and by Watson and Hoult -- that its more cloying moments, including a staged version of the musical "Camelot" (which is too long), are a moot point.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Wah-Wah has a sequence, based on old newsreels, in which the flag is lowered and the sun sets on another bit of the empire. Odd how many critics have felt the whole movie should be about this. I don't see why. The story is about people who lived closed lives, and a film about them would necessarily give independence only a supporting role.

Christian Science Monitor Peter Rainer

Grant is a fine actor ("Withnail and I," "Gosford Park") and, although he doesn't appear in Wah-Wah, his spiritedness as a performer carries through to some of the others in his cast.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

Thanks to Grant's script and direction, the exotic Swaziland location (a film first) and an engaging cast, this smartly crafted drama radiates a gently comic pulse.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

Wah-Wah can't sustain the mastery of its superior first hour, but it maintains a core of truth that sets it apart from less-convincing depictions of boys becoming men.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

The fascinating aspect of the rambling and involving film is how Ralph and this no-nonsense dame who married Dad become confederates.

The New York Times Jeannette Catsoulis

Yet for all its studied snobbery and brittle entitlement, the film is never mean-spirited: even Ralph's monstrous parents are treated with more compassion than they deserve. Clearly, Mr. Grant's memories are more fond than bitter - even if the same probably can't be said of the Swazis.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

Grant's unblinking but sympathetic depiction of this emotionally unhinged world makes the viewer feel like an illicit, enlightened gawker, and it has the enormous fringe benefit of fine performers, including Richardson, who puts endearing vigor into the adulterous Lauren, and Julie Walters, Ralph's aunt, who tells the boy her frequent tipsiness is a recurring case of "sunstroke."

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

Veteran actor Richard E. Grant makes his writing and directing debut with Wah-Wah, a startling portrait of his own startling and unusual childhood, growing up in Swaziland in the waning days of the British Empire in Africa.

Variety Derek Elley

Flavorsome performances by a seasoned cast, held in check by Grant's traditional but well-crafted, always cinematic direction.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

Never less than good but it's also never quite great.

Miami Herald Connie Ogle

Wah-Wah's characters are wonderfully human and flawed and still capable of stirring empathy, which is appealing. But in the end, the film isn't saying much at all.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Though the raw material is juicy stuff, the details and the larger picture never come together and the cast is uneven.

LA Weekly Ella Taylor

Though far from expert filmmaking - visual clichés fly thick and fast - the movie has a swooning feel for the stark beauty of the African kingdom in which it was shot.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

As in so many films directed by actors, there's a generosity shown to performance that results in many lifelike moments.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

An overdeveloped coming-of-age potboiler.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

As coming of age stories go, Wah-Wah does little to distinguish itself.

Village Voice Rob Nelson

That the film is semi- autobiographical for caustic actor-turned-writer-director Richard E. Grant helps explain its severely, sometimes laughably bitter tone.

San Francisco Chronicle Ruthe Stein

To label the parents in Wah-Wah dysfunctional doesn't adequately describe their wildly inappropriate behavior.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

About as gripping as its title.

Chicago Tribune Jessica Reaves

There isn't enough heft to the story to pull everything together. Watching it is like trying to assemble a puzzle that's missing pieces.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

This is a hokey, old-fashioned melodrama in which the actors scream more often than necessary.

New York Post V.A. Musetto

The story lacks focus. The senses blur as wives and ex-wives come and go, and Harry regularly falls off the wagon, only to reform the next day.

The average user rating for this movie is 7.8 (out of 10) based on 7 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Chad S. gave it a7:
Lauren(Miranda Richardson) wants to leave Swaziland because she's bored with life in the outback. Only incidentially does this British subject, this conscienceless woman of privilege, give something back to her adopted homeland. Lauren's gift is that she gets lost, if only for a little while. Her disdain for Africa seems so manifest, plot contrivance can be the only explanation for her return. "Wah Wah" is a film about people shut-off from the bigger picture. Through their eyes, Swaziland is simply home, and not the spoils that colonization entails. Even a nice American woman(or is she an "Ugly American" with manners) like Ruby(Emily Watson), who probably should know better(she lived through the Civil Rights Movement), never acknowledges her role of being an unwanted interloper. "Wah Wah" documents the end of British rule in the African colony, and thankfully, its subjects never express any remorse for their occupation. It would've felt tacked on, dishonest; because "Wah Wah" is about people whose arrogance has such a practiced sheen and polish, they turned their hubris into class. Their time in Swaziland may have been "Camelot" to them, but to the indigenous people, natives who Ralph(Nicholas Hoult) refers to as the subject of a National Geographic shoot, they probably suppressed the instinct to "kill a lot" behind their obedient, pacific faces when called upon to perform for their colonizers.

Jono N. gave it a9:
Delightful, engrossing and thorougly entertaining.

Robert I. gave it a7:
Touches you emotionally in a way that an old-fashioned film can do: Swaziland becomes a metaphor for global change in the lives of strong characters.

Wendy S. gave it a9:
I was very moved by this account of a childhood very similar to my own. The views of Swaziland were breath taking and the music was wonderful.

Daniel B. gave it a3:
I'm afraid I must agree with the NY Post on this one; this movie really needed to be slowed down somehow. It's nearly impossible to sympathize with any of the characters, including young Ralph.

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Wah-Wah Samuel Goldwyn Films LLC / Roadside Attractions

Wah-Wah
Samuel Goldwyn Films LLC / Roadside Attractions