Submarine

This perfectly clever, funny, and touching coming-of-age story won’t bore you, but it gets awful close to doing nothing more than offering a pleasant diversion for 90 minutes. Craig Roberts plays Oliver Tate, who provides voice-over narration to his existence as a fairly independent 15-year-old kid looking for a little meaning by losing his virginity and somehow solving his parent’s problematic marriage. Director Richard Ayoade creates a solid and unwavering tone throughout that covers all the clever (and funny and touching) moments of a completely realistic story, one that doesn’t merely tell what it’s like to be Oliver, but shows. If the 34-year-old Ayoade has such a deft handle on being a teenager, imagine how he might handle somebody his own age.