Wah-Wah has a sequence, based on old newsreels, in which the flag is lowered and the sun sets on another bit of the empire. Odd how many critics have felt the whole movie should be about this. I don't see why. The story is about people who lived closed lives, and a film about them would necessarily give independence only a supporting role.Read Full Review »
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Philadelphia Inquirer: Carrie Rickey
The fascinating aspect of the rambling and involving film is how Ralph and this no-nonsense dame who married Dad become confederates.Read Full Review »
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The New York Times: Jeannette Catsoulis
Yet for all its studied snobbery and brittle entitlement, the film is never mean-spirited: even Ralph's monstrous parents are treated with more compassion than they deserve. Clearly, Mr. Grant's memories are more fond than bitter - even if the same probably can't be said of the Swazis.Read Full Review »
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Washington Post: Desson Thomson
Grant's unblinking but sympathetic depiction of this emotionally unhinged world makes the viewer feel like an illicit, enlightened gawker, and it has the enormous fringe benefit of fine performers, including Richardson, who puts endearing vigor into the adulterous Lauren, and Julie Walters, Ralph's aunt, who tells the boy her frequent tipsiness is a recurring case of "sunstroke."Read Full Review »
That the film is semi- autobiographical for caustic actor-turned-writer-director Richard E. Grant helps explain its severely, sometimes laughably bitter tone.Read Full Review »
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ReelViews: James Berardinelli
As coming of age stories go, Wah-Wah does little to distinguish itself.Read Full Review »
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