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Movies / On DVD / Wondrous Oblivion
Wondrous Oblivion

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Wondrous Oblivion (2006)

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Reviews Counted:40

Fresh:26

Rotten:14

Average Rating:6.2/10

Consensus: This coming-of-age/cricket tale wants to be touching, but is too often sappy.

Runtime: 1 hr 46 mins

Genre: Comedies

Synopsis: Eleven year old David Wiseman is mad about cricket but no good at it. He has all the kit but none of the skill, and he's a laughing stock at school. So when a Jamaican family move in next door and... Eleven year old David Wiseman is mad about cricket but no good at it. He has all the kit but none of the skill, and he's a laughing stock at school. So when a Jamaican family move in next door and build a cricket net in the back garden, David is in seventh heaven. But this is 1960's England, and when the neighbours start to make life difficult for the new arrivals, David's family are caught in the middle, and he has to choose between fitting in and standing up for the new friends who have turned his world upside down. [More]

Starring: Sam Smith, Delroy Lindo, Stanley Townsend, Emily Woof

Starring: Sam Smith, Delroy Lindo, Stanley Townsend, Emily Woof, Richard Ashton, Barry Davis

Director: Paul Morrison

Director: Paul Morrison

[See More Credits]

Reviews for Wondrous Oblivion

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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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There's a certain sensitivity -- fine performances, too -- in the subtle handling of the sexual tension between Woof's repressed Jewish spouse and Lindo's handsome stranger. Overall, a safe single when it might have played for the boundary.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
01/26/06
Trevor Johnston
Trevor Johnston
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Charming British drama.

Full Review Source: FilmFocus | comment Comment
07/20/04
Joe Utichi
Joe Utichi
FilmFocus

It's too lightweight to truly succeed as a memorable social drama, but the film's sweet-natured, eager-to-please tone -- backed by Smith's appealing performance -- makes for enjoyable viewing.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
05/14/04
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The story is just too simpleminded, as though aimed not quite at grown-ups.

Full Review Source: Daily Mail [UK] | comment Comment
04/24/04
Christopher Tookey
Christopher Tookey
Daily Mail [UK]

Enjoyable, sweet-natured, feel-good drama featuring strong performances from Delroy Lindo, Emily Woof and newcomer Sam Smith.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
04/24/04
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

Ultimately, it's an earnest rites-of-passage drama that's likely to work better on the small screen.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
04/20/04
Tom Dawson
Tom Dawson
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Writer-director Paul Morrison (Solomon & Gaenor) goes for wistful coming-of-age sweetness with this fascinating but slight racial drama.

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
02/13/04
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
10/18/08
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile Critics
Urban Cinefile

The challenges of friendship across color lines.

Full Review Source: Cinema Signals | comment Comment
06/17/07
Jules Brenner
Jules Brenner
Cinema Signals
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
05/12/07
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Evocative, beautifully photographed and skillfully directed.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
03/01/07
Maria Garcia
Maria Garcia
Film Journal International

David's favorite exclamation is "wondrous!" %u2014 which happens to be a fitting description for the talents of writer/director Paul Morrison.

Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
02/01/07
Phil Villarreal
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star

Wondrous Oblivion is a timeless tale of an 11-year-old South London boy putting aside boyish things. Writer-director Paul Morrison affirms PG-rated life lessons that could appeal to 11-year-olds and their elders alike.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
01/12/07
Bill Stamets
Bill Stamets
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
12/30/06
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

For all its bright-hued nostalgia (the cricket greens are practically incandescent), Wondrous Oblivion edges up to hard truths, most powerfully expressed in Lindo's towering performance.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
12/30/06
Sam Adams
Sam Adams
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A touching rite-of-passage flick which simultaneously sends several valuable messages about friendship, fidelity, tolerance, and reaching for the stars.

Full Review Source: Upstage Magazine | comment Comment
12/28/06
Kam Williams
Kam Williams
Upstage Magazine

You don't have to know anything about the sport of cricket to be charmed by Wondrous Oblivion, a British film that is finally getting a well-deserved theatrical release after opening the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival in 2004.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
12/22/06
G. Allen Johnson
G. Allen Johnson
San Francisco Chronicle

...Thanks to solid performances and very nice cinematography, it hits, if not a home run, at least a solid double (or the British equivalent).

Full Review Source: Oregonian | comment Comment
12/15/06
Marc Mohan
Marc Mohan
Oregonian

A family film with a difference, Wondrous Oblivion displays real bite as it incisively tackles such adult subjects as racism, anti-Semitism, adultery and the plight of immigrants in an intolerant land.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
11/23/06
Shlomo Schwartzberg
Shlomo Schwartzberg
Boxoffice Magazine

It's a delight to see Delroy Lindo -- perpetually cast as tough cops and tougher crooks -- playing a tender father and decent (if struggling) husband.

Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger | comment Comment
11/06/06
Stephen Whitty
Stephen Whitty
Newark Star-Ledger
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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