'Wah-Wah': Out of Swaziland
by John DeFore
Richard E. Grant's "Wah-Wah" is set in the filmmaker's childhood home, which is now irrevocably altered by history. The setting is Swaziland on the eve of the '70s, where Ralphie Compton ("About a Boy's" Nicholas Hoult) witnesses the waning days of the British Empire. We get occasional glimpses of African desert and the natives who inhabit it, but most of the film occurs at a generic social club and in the Compton household, where Ralphie's life is defined by domestic unhappiness.
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The dysfunctional Compton family's gradual disintegration mirrors the end of British rule in Swaziland, South East Africa, during the last gasp of the British Empire in 1959.
Samuel Goldwyn Films
'Wah-Wah'
Director: Richard E. Grant
Starring: Gabriel Byrne, Miranda Richardson, Nicholas Hoult, Emily Watson, Julie Walters
Run time: 99 minutes
Release date: May 12, 2006
Rating: R for some language and brief sexuality.
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The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: B
"The acting is across-the-board excellent..."
Austin American-Statesman: 2 of 5 stars
"(Director Richard) Grant is generous to his fine cast, but few characters are fleshed out enough for us to care about them and the story itself is nothing new."
The Palm Beach Post: B+
"Like many actors who go behind the camera, director Richard Grant gets some first-rate performances from his cast, notably Gabriel Byrne and Emily Watson."
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