Wondrous Oblivion Review
By David Kempler
Wondrous Neighbor
It's the early 60's in Britain. The Beatles have yet to appear. The world is coiled to head into a new direction of political clashes. In some ways it was simpler but that is a lie told for most periods of time that have already passed. But I'm ahead of myself here.
"Wondrous Oblivion" is a microcosmic tale of a local community in South London. The living quarters on the street are all row houses belonging to the lower end of the middle class. One house is occupied by the seemingly only Jewish family in the area. They are the Wisemans and they have been displaced from Germany by the Holocaust. The Wisemans are outsiders in this world but when the movie begins it is apparent that they have already been accepted in the community to some extent. They are no doubt a lower form of life but aside from snide comments from a few of the more obnoxious neighbors they are getting by. The definition of outsider changes when a Jamaican family moves in next door to the Wisemans. While Jews were barely tolerable to the locals, this new development is just a bit too much.
The Jewish family consists of father Victor (Stanley Tonsend), mother Ruth (Emily Woof), 11 year-old son David (Sam Smith) and a young daughter that is in the film for no apparent reason. The Jamaican family is led by Dennis Samuels (Delroy Lindo), the patriarch and moral backbone of "Wondrous Oblivion". His morality is almost insufferable. Thankfully he is given one scene where he flashes anger while drunk. If it weren't for that momentary break he would be Mr. Perfect. He too is married and has children, and one of them, his daughter Judy (Leonie Elliott), forms a friendship with David.
David feels like he doesn't really fit in at school and lives in a fantasy life in his room, where he is the greatest cricket player in the world. He cares about nothing else. Unfortunately, his passion does not in any way translate to his real abilities so his dream of playing cricket for the school team is only a dream. Dennis turns his and everyone else's world upside down by building a cricket practice area in his very small backyard, complete with net. David watches from his window until he can no longer take it and wanders over. Dennis takes him under his wing and teaches him how to play, at the same time teaching everyone life lessons. Obviously this freaks out everyone who lives on this block.
What follows is part kid against all odds makes it athletically a la "Rudy", and an awakening of everyone's supposedly innate goodness, and for the most part it flat out works. It's the winning over of the hardest set against the Jamaican family that feels like the giant pothole of unbelievability. That just ain't reality and until that ill-fated scene everything added up beautifully. It's not enough to totally derail this otherwise almost "Wondrous" film but it is enough to make you walk out of the theater feeling like writer/director Paul Morrison has just pulled a bit of a fast one on you.
