Submarine
Weinstein Company, The | Release Date: June 3, 2011 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
76
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 37 Critic Reviews
Positive:
33
Mixed:
3
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Jennie PunterJun 9, 2011
One of the most irresistible films of the year so far. Read full review
100
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternJun 2, 2011
Wonderfully funny and subversively affecting. Read full review
91
The A.V. ClubNathan RabinJun 2, 2011
Submarine is the film "Youth In Revolt" should have been, an achingly sad yet ribald account of a hyper-verbal oddball's ascent/descent into manhood. Read full review
90
TimeRichard CorlissJun 5, 2011
It's a cagey delight, and an imposing feature directorial debut for one of Britain's TV stalwarts. Read full review
90
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranJun 5, 2011
Writer-director Richard Ayoade has the knack. A fresh and inventive cinematic voice, he's taken a subject that's been beaten half to death and brought it miraculously to life in his smart and funny debut feature, Submarine. Read full review
88
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsJun 16, 2011
As an homage to an influential director, Submarine blows "Super 8" out of the water. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertJun 9, 2011
Submarine isn't an insipid teen sex comedy. It flaunts some stylistic devices, such as titles and sections and self-aware narration, but it doesn't try too hard to be desperately clever. Read full review
88
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsJun 9, 2011
Isn't merely joke-funny. It's texture-funny. Read full review
88
New York PostKyle SmithJun 3, 2011
The excruciating and the hilarious mingle nearly to perfection in this marvelously visualized and deeply felt British film. Read full review
83
Portland OregonianM. E. RussellJun 16, 2011
Submarine pulls off a nice little feat: It's a reference-heavy coming-of-age indie flick that feels fresh despite being, well, a reference-heavy coming-of-age indie flick. Read full review
83
IndieWireEric KohnJun 1, 2011
Where "Bridesmaids" has plenty of solid gags, it's not much to look at; Submarine always has something impressive to watch even when its plot is on autopilot. Read full review
80
Arizona RepublicKerry LengelJun 9, 2011
There are moments when this funny, self-consciously quirky film feels a bit like a Welsh "Napoleon Dynamite." Read full review
80
SlateDana StevensJun 5, 2011
Submarine isn't a perfect film, but it's a terrific first one. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierJun 3, 2011
A charming indie that combines dreamy aspiration with mucky, hilarious reality. Read full review
80
The New York TimesA.O. ScottJun 2, 2011
This is the kind of story, as Oliver himself would admit, that we have already seen dozens of times. But Mr. Ayoade's keen visual wit and clever, knowing touches keep it surprising and nimble, especially in the quick, lurching early scenes, which are startlingly funny. Read full review
80
Time OutSam AdamsMay 31, 2011
Submarine may not be epic cinema, but in a modest way, it's close to perfection. Read full review
80
The New YorkerDavid DenbyMay 30, 2011
In all, this is a movie that is partial to youth as a state of being. The grownups seem finished, as frozen in their lifetime roles as creatures out of myth or the Bible. But Oliver and Jordana have the freedom to go anywhere, do anything, become anything. Submarine is an exhilarating surprise. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeTy BurrJun 16, 2011
Submarine has its own specific miseries and darkly funny vibe. It makes quirkiness briefly seem like a good thing again. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie RickeyJun 16, 2011
The film's humor comes in part from the gap between what Oliver says and what the audience sees. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleAmy BiancolliJun 9, 2011
Ayoade is well known to British viewers for his role as a coddled nerd in the sitcom "The IT Crowd," so it's fair to expect laughs from his directorial debut feature. But much depends on your mind-set; U.S. audiences could have trouble with the movie's less-than-sunny worldview. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliJun 9, 2011
It's a deliciously amusing and sometimes surprisingly poignant look at the difficulties of being a 15-year old outsider whose chief goals in life are getting laid and making sure his parents don't split up. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter TraversJun 2, 2011
Ayoade, the British comic making a remarkable feature debut with his adaptation of Joe Dunthorne's 2008 novel, blends mirth and malice with deadpan brilliance. Read full review
75
Slant MagazineJesse CataldoMay 31, 2011
It cheats a little, using a mix of amateurish extreme close-ups and striking Welsh industrial vistas to substitute for real technical proficiency, but also applies more formal consideration than most films, namely teen-centered comedies, ever do. Read full review
70
SalonAndrew O'HehirJun 9, 2011
At its best when it feels specific to its setting; Erik Wilson's often lovely cinematography captures the distinctive, watery light and raw weather of the Welsh seacoast in winter, and Hawkins, as always, captures a character who is completely specific in terms of class, place and period. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJ.R. JonesJun 9, 2011
Ayoade owes a debt to Wes Anderson (Rushmore), but the parents here are so beautifully written, and Hawkins and Taylor particularize them so well, that the movie manages to hold its own. Read full review
70
MovielineMichelle OrangeJun 2, 2011
Divided into three chapters in a largely unsuccessful attempt at structure, the voice and the style don't combine as explosively as they should to pick up the material's slack. Read full review
70
Boxoffice MagazineRay GreeneMay 29, 2011
An auspicious, controlled and altogether droll debut film that resembles Wes Anderson's "Rushmore" without being derived from it. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterJohn DeForeMay 29, 2011
Writer-director Richard Ayoade's feature debut is witty and quirky, with a gripping performance by Paddy Considine. Read full review
70
VarietyPeter DebrugeMay 29, 2011
Rises above the genre's tired, cookie-cutter competition, presenting familiar elements, such as preternaturally articulate teens preoccupied with virginity, through fresh eyes. Read full review
67
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovJun 16, 2011
Submarine pulls off the difficult trick of being bittersweet without being saccharine and does so with a quietly riotous aplomb. Read full review
67
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerJun 5, 2011
It's also a mistake, I think, to have Oliver and Jordana be so emotionally flat. No doubt Ayoade was reaching for a hipper-than-thou vibe here, but their inexpressiveness is more annoying than cool. Read full review
63
Orlando SentinelRoger MooreJul 16, 2011
Does well in capturing the cruelty of school life and the assorted "types" who inhabit schools there and here. But it's more twee than clever, more affectionate than romantic and more promising than satisfying. Read full review
63
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanJun 9, 2011
For much of the film, this is very funny and fairly original stuff, though Submarine starts to run aground about the time that Jordana and Oliver's relationship does. Read full review
60
Village VoiceNick PinkertonJun 1, 2011
Though Submarine isn't a dull head-movie, amid the bells and whistles, Roberts seems less its star than its cameraman. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezJun 15, 2011
The main problem with Submarine is that Oliver is not a likable protagonist. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanMay 29, 2011
The film is so self-conscious it seems to be dictating your every reaction. Read full review
25
ObserverRex ReedJun 1, 2011
The movie knocks itself unconscious trying to be offbeat, but instead of cinematic heart, the director self-indulges in cinematic art, drowning the whole thing in freeze frames, slow-motion and color-coding, owing everything he knows to the worst of Jean-Luc Godard and Wes Anderson. Read full review
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