Wondrous Oblivion is one of those films that I either love to hate, or hate to love. You probably know exactly what I am referring to; the sappy sweet kind of film that intentionally yanks at your heartstrings and pushes a blatant moralistic message at the very end. Sometimes movie fans like you and me immediately call out its agenda and put up an impenetrable steel wall around our hearts muttering the words, “Nice try”. However, other films of the same caliber are more successful at charming our guards down and leaving us stunned and smiling by the closing credits. The most recent personal examples I can recall are Love Actually and The Astronaut Farmer. By looking at the front cover of Wondrous Oblivion and its squeaky clean characters that emanate niceness, I knew I was in for a sentimental trip. But did it manage to win me over? My rolling eyes during the closing credits indicate not.
David Wiseman (Sam Smith) is a young Jewish boy who has recently moved to a London neighborhood with his émigré parents (Emily Wood and Stanley Townsend) in the 1960s. After living in the area, young David falls in love with the game of cricket and wishes nothing more than to become a popular athlete. He even devotes his free time to snatching up every cricket player card he can find in the area. Being that poor David does not have the skills to play the sport well, he simulates winning games on his desktop using his player cards and pencils.
The young protagonist’s struggle with becoming a first-rate athlete seems hopeless; this is until Dennis (Delroy Lindo) movies in next door with his family. Despite the neighborhood being full of immigrants who have undergone prejudicial treatment, everyone does not like the arrival of their neighbors one bit. Dennis and his family are black Jamaicans, and the era is still active with segregation. While David’s parents are stand offish, the wide-eyed David can only stare in wide-eyed wonderment as Dennis and his daughter Judy (Leonie Elliot) hit mean cricket swings within the confines of their personal batting net. In fact, David becomes so excited that he jumps the fence on a regular basis to learn moves from Dennis and become close friends with young Judy. This blissful relationship hits a few snags as angry racists begin encroaching upon the household, and David’s bored, housewife mother becomes a little too un-racist with Dennis.
It would be a hard thing for me to say that I love to hate Wondrous Oblivion. It is kind of like being acquainted with someone whose intentions are well, yet you could never hang out with he or she due to some grating characteristics. Oblivion does indeed mean well with its positive story about racism and the irony of Jewish immigrants persecuting those similar to them because of skin color. Delroy Lindo is particularly poignant as the kind-hearted Dennis. But the film from indie label Palm Pictures plays out more like a Hallmark movie rather than an edgy, independent project. There is definitely an audience for this film, but its candy coated trip down nostalgia lane became a little too noticeable and excessive for me. When the movie is not so focused on looking at life through David’s eyes of awe, there are certain unneeded conflicts. One is an implied romance between David’s mother and Dennis that escalates, and is dropped like a sack of potatoes as if it never occurred.
In the long run, I was a bit underwhlemed by Wondrous Oblivion. This sweet little morality tale about racial conflict is no different from a trite television movie that is thrown into a network Saturday night time slot. If you are looking for something new, there is nothing exciting to see here. However, this should definitely please the Hallmark crowd.
2 out of 5