Wondrous Oblivion review

After receiving a warm reception at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival, Wondrous Oblivion arrives in England just as the bails are being put on stumps at the beginning of the cricket season. The film deals with immigration, racism and cricket in South London in the 1960s all seen through the eyes of an eleven-year-old boy. But while it attempts to confront these issues in a forthright way, it eventually becomes a little but fuzzy and over-sentimental.

David is a young Jewish boy who lives and breathes cricket. He has a huge possession of cricket memorabilia, all the right gear, and a comprehensive knowledge of the game . The only thing he lacks, however, is talent and his only contribution to the school team is as scorer. His family love and support him but are beset by other issues. The father (Stanley Townsend) is constantly struggling to earn enough money and his mother (Emily Woof) is a timid woman, intent on fitting in nicely in the local white neighbourhood. Everything changes for David when a black family move in next door. It's the first non-white family on the street and the neighbours' intolerance soon comes to a head. But as soon as Dennis (Delroy Lindo) erects a cricket net in his back garden the young boy has a new hero. Dennis mentors David through the rudiments of batting and bowling, and even manages to introduce him to Gary Sobers at a charity function. While his family are reluctant to have their son associate with the new family, David's mother finds herself increasingly attracted to her neighbour.

The film offers plenty of scope to examine race relations at a critical time in English history. Interestingly both families are immigrants facing slightly different forms of racism from the indigenous population. This is deftly handled by the actors, notably Delroy Lindo (familiar from films such as Heist and Malcolm X) and Emily Woof, who both give easy, sensitive performances in the lead roles.

However, the film is let down both in terms of its execution and script. Much of the first half of the film appears set-bound, and the action rarely veers from the back garden. Director Paul Morrison (Oscar-nominated for his Welsh-language film Solomon and Gaenor) struggles to give the film a definite through line, and there is notable feeling of budgetary constraints in the way.

The script (also by Morrison) is uneven with an ending that fails to deliver, and too often paints its characters with strokes that are far too broad (the Jewish family's obsession with money rankles). Thanks to a watchable and confident performance by Sam Smith as the young boy, however, it does have an occasional sense of charm. In the wake of last year's hit football film though, Bowl it Like Botham it's not.