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.
Comment
06/01/06
Wah-Wah (2006)
52
%
Tomatometer
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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.
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... [More]
Starring: Gabriel Byrne, Miranda Richardson, Emily Watson, Julie Waters
Director: Richard E. Grant
Reviews for Wah-Wah
Top CriticAn unforced, engaging and surprisingly incisive account of the disintegration of British rule in Africa.
06/02/06
Top CriticEngaging, deeply personal film with strong performances and impressive cinematography - this is an assured debut by Grant.
06/01/06
It's a remarkable ode to both an imperfect father and an emerging nation.
05/06/06
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 CriticClick to read the article
06/03/06
Top CriticAs a story, Wah-Wah is far from perfect, but its wonderful cast brings it a complexity all too rare today.
05/12/06
A perfectly respectable filmmaking debut, Wah-Wah simply leaves us feeling that there could have been more to the story.
05/12/06
Above all, the film has a wonderful sense of ensemble in the portrayal of its inbred community, and the focus stays tight on the people rather than political events.
05/11/06
Top CriticGrant'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.
05/11/06
What the movie lacks in depth -- it's really little more than a glimpse of this boy and these people in this place at this time -- it makes up for in its well-observed details and sneaky humor.
05/25/06
As you'd expect, Grant works expertly with a terrific ensemble.
05/11/06
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
Decadence as metaphor for decadence, how original.
05/12/06
An incisively observed, richly detailed and wonderfully unpredictable portrait of a young man's journey to maturity,...a singularly affecting movie.
05/15/06
Effective sendup of British colonial rule in Africa.
04/25/06
Grant is an impressively assured filmmaker, especially for a first-timer.
06/30/06
Only occasionally successful . . .
06/29/06
Grant captures the essence both of boyhood rites of passage and a particular time and place for which he clearly holds affection, bumps, ruts and all.
05/12/06
Switching hats from actor to writer/director, Grant smoothly serves up everything you expect in a coming-of-age tale.
05/11/06
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