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Comment
06/03/06
Wah-Wah (2006)
52 %
Reviews Counted: 66 Fresh: 34 Rotten:32 Average Rating: 5.9/10
Consensus:
The ensemble cast is strong, but they get overpowered by the muddled stew of melodrama.
Rated: 15
Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins
Theatrical Release: 02-06-2006
Synopsis: Acclaimed actor Richard E. Grant's "Wah-Wah" is a semi-autobiographical "coming-of-age at the end of an age" story, told through the eyes of young Ralph Compton. Set during the last gasp of the British Empire in Swaziland, South East Africa, in 1969, the plot focuses on the dysfunctional... [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Gabriel Byrne, Miranda Richardson, Emily Watson, Julie Walters, Nicholas Hoult
Director: Richard E. Grant
Screenwriter: Richard E. Grant
Producer: Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar
Composer: Patrick Doyle
Screenwriter: Richard E. Grant
Producer: Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar
Composer: Patrick Doyle
Reviews
Top Critic
An unforced, engaging and surprisingly incisive account of the disintegration of British rule in Africa.
06/02/06
Top Critic
Gabriel Byrne gives a great performance as Ralph’s troubled father, Harry, and Miranda Richardson and Emily Watson are enjoyable as Harry’s wife and American lover.
06/01/06
Top Critic
Engaging, deeply personal film with strong performances and impressive cinematography - this is an assured debut by Grant.
06/01/06
The only feeling it successfully provokes is annoyance. By the time it's over, you feel like slapping some sense into the lot of them.
05/23/06
Top Critic
It's a remarkable ode to both an imperfect father and an emerging nation.
05/06/06
After watching his directorial debut, Wah-Wah, I'd like [Richard] Grant to stay in front of the camera.
09/17/07
Grant has crafted a handsome period piece that never betrays his first-timer status.
02/22/07
While this is clearly a very personal film for Grant, and he seems to want to tackle some serious issues, his vision is too clouded by nostalgia to be truly compelling.
07/06/06
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07/01/06
Grant is an impressively assured filmmaker, especially for a first-timer.
06/30/06
Full of too much blah, blah. And way too much of the shrill, shrieking, screaming, carrying-on variety.
06/23/06
The lush African setting sets this coming-of-age saga apart - it's too bad Grant didn't use it for more than picture-postcard backdrops.
06/23/06
Ralph's life, at least as it's presented here, isn't all that interesting, and Grant fails to elevate the ordinary into anything more than that.
06/16/06
I admired the movie and was happy to see it but can think of two other films about whites in Africa that do a better job of seeing their roles.
06/16/06
Top Critic
I admire how Grant's writing and direction take Africa for granted (pardon the pun) in the sense that we are spared longing long shots of landscapes and similar signs of awestruck filmmaking. It's is the real thing, no wah-wah about it.
06/15/06
Watching it is like trying to assemble a puzzle that's missing pieces: You can see the outline of a story, and some shapes fit neatly together, but there are undeniable holes.
06/15/06
Rare is the honest labor of love that doesn't have some redeeming value, and Wah-Wah ultimately wins you over with its sincerity.
06/08/06
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