Borgarkeri A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Kodie Bird True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

Skyler Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

Paul Creeden If you want to serve jerk pork with schmaltz, rent this movie for dinner viewing. Between Emily Woof's commendable, but unbelievable, attempt at a Yiddish accent and Eve Stewart's nostalgic production design, I started groaning early. This potentially interesting story about prejudice becomes a parody of real life early on. The same old messages about how dysfunctional behavior on the part of new arrivals in an established culture is really charming and enriching. Political correctness gone idiotic. The boys are all cutesy. The girls are all darling. The immigrants are all determined to be jolly and, of course, are always wiser than the people around them. This movie feels like a propaganda film or a commercial from start to finish. The plot is boring. The condescension infuriating. The thematic simplicity annoying.

cmto I hadn't been back to this site since I posted my original comment, which was a while ago. Now I return and find my post has been removed and IMDb didn't even bother to notify me.No doubt my comment was "flagged" as "inappropriate" or somesuch. If so, then what nonsense. It's clear that the pompous people using terms such as "narrow-minded" and "bigoted" are afflicted with these traits themselves. It seems that an already near-complete monopoly of the old media by the political "left" is not enough, they have to censor the internet as well.No matter. I'm experience with left-wing hypocrisy and the fact that they are guilty of what they accuse; also that they don't have the self-awareness to realise this about themselves - or perhaps they're just arrogant.If my initial comment on this film was removed due to anyone labelling it "racist" than that's not only pathetic but the opposite of the truth - my comments were ANTI-racist as I was criticising the constant depiction of white people and only white people as "evil racists". It's racial stigmatisation. Are the worlds' white peoples supposed to meekly accept being constantly singled out for demonisation by Big Media? Apparently so.On a final note, the left's media monopoly and active censorship is not only hypocrisy but an admission of failure. Failure to hold audience interest by merit and an admission that the (potential and suppressed) competition is better.0/1? I bet the user who did that is the one who reported my initial comment and it didn't take me long to work out the why and who. All I'll say at this juncture is that is typical of your kind. How the world was conned by the left's "free speech/expression" stance in the 1960's. Now they are in charge and applying the very thing they feigned to protest against.

roland-104 What if you're a studio executive and I come to you to pitch my idea for a film? I tell you it's about adultery, racism and anti-Semitism. Oh, and, yes, I almost forgot: it's mainly a feel good, family friendly movie. You'd think I'm nuts, right? Well, could be, but in a nutshell that's what we have here in "Wondrous Oblivion," an audacious, charming little film in which heart trumps hate as people sort out a crisis in a working class London neighborhood.Set in the 1960s, the story concerns two immigrant families - one Jewish, the other Afro-Jamaican – interlopers in an otherwise traditional white Anglo neighborhood. The catalyst for action is eleven year old David Wiseman (Sam Smith), whose desire to excel in cricket is not matched by his bumbling play on the field. When the blacks move in, two doors down from the Wisemans, the neighborhood gossips crank up their whispered invective, but the newest family on the block presents a wondrous opportunity for David.The reason: as soon as the kitchenware is unboxed, Dennis (Delroy Lindo, one of my favorite actors) sets about erecting a tall net enclosing his entire rear yard so he can coach his daughter Judy (Leonie Elliott), David's age mate, to improve her cricket skills. Before long David makes friends with both and is included in the practices. His skills blossom, and soon he morphs from goat to hero on his boys' school team.Meanwhile, on David's home street, matters turn progressively nasty. Hate notes turn up in Dennis's mailbox, and, because the Wisemans have befriended the West Indians, for the first time after years of living there, they also begin to receive anti-Semitic hate notes. Complicating matters further, David's mother Ruth (Emily Woof), love starved at home, where her husband Victor (Stanley Townsend) is forever preoccupied with business issues, gets the hots for Dennis and pursues him.Can all of this end in anything other than pathos? By golly, the answer here is yes, though it requires of the viewer more than the usual degree of suspension of disbelief. Check out this gem of a film. You wonder why it has taken three years to find domestic theatrical distribution. But then the answer comes: the film no doubt lacks broad U.S. commercial appeal (its exclusive run here was at a neighborhood art house). The acting is terrific all around. Sam Smith, around whom the narrative stands or falls, is a quirky and entirely endearing youngster, and his turn succeeds completely. (In English & Hebrew) My grades: 8.5/10 (A-) (Seen on 12/18/06)

skarasen While this could never be considered a true masterpiece, as such, there's plenty going for it. Richly textured, this film goes beyond the realms of superficiality, reaching for a wider base in its coverage of the issues at hand. The relations between the people in the neighbourhood are at once entertaining, riveting and tense - causing the odd chuckle and plenty of lurching in the stomach. The racial tensions and the unnerving line that is drawn between the events and other racial notables in history such as apartheid and the Nazi regime makes this a superb watch - there is one particularly chilling scene (that I will not divulge) that sends a massive shiver down the spine of the viewer. The characterisation is what really makes this film in terms of the actual watching of it, and no character is left without something to analyse on - making it an excellent English film text. Overall, a superb example of cinematic beauty.