Wah-Wah
"Wah-Wah" is full of too much blah, blah.And way too much of the shrill, shrieking, screaming, carrying-on variety.
While the film does have a cast (Gabriel Byrne, Emily Watson, Miranda Richardson) and a setting (British colonial Africa, circa the 1960s) that the Merchant Ivory team would kill for, the film is simply too unpleasant. Most, if not all, of its characters are so one-note that they become unsympathetic.
If anything, this vanity project makes you feel sorry for actor-turned filmmaker Richard E. Grant, who wrote and directed, basing the story on his own real-life experiences growing up in Swaziland. Grant's fictional counterpart in the film is Ralph Compton (Nicholas Hoult), the son of British educational officer Harry Compton (Byrne).
Harry's constant drinking and abusive tirades have already pushed one wife, Ralph's mother (Miranda Richardson), into the arms of another man. And now the same problem is threatening Harry's relationship with the more free-spirited Ruby (Emily Watson).
All of which has become a bone of contention between Harry and aspiring young thespian Ralph, who already has some serious abandonment issues and wants nothing more than to have a happy, healthy family life.
And Byrne's blustery, almost comical turn as a raging alcoholic certainly doesn't help.
Watson, Richardson, Julie Walters and Hoult ("About a Boy") are certainly more dignified in their performances, though they're not given much to work with.
The real star here is the scenery, perfectly captured on location in Africa by the camera crews of cinematographer Pierre Aim ("He Loves Me ... He Loves Me Not").
"Wah-Wah" is rated R for occasional use of strong sexual profanity and some other crude sexual language, domestic violence (tantrums and the like), brief drug content (hypodermic use), and a brief sex scene, as well as some other sexual contact. Running time: 100 minutes.
E-MAIL: jeff@desnews.com