‘The Ballad Of Wallis Island’ Review: Carey Mulligan Hits Just The Right Note In A Melancholy Musical Rom-Com – Sundance Film Festival
The snap, crackle and pop of vinyl marks the start of The Ballad of Wallis Island, a music-themed rom-com that’s half-whimsical com and half-unrequited rom. In the absence of a new film by John Carney, who has the template nailed down by now, audiences at Sundance lapped it up. Outside a festival atmosphere, however, its commercial prospects aren’t immediately clear, since the humor is exceedingly British and the references often seem kind of dated (perhaps a result of the film’s 18 years in development after starting life as a BAFTA-winning short in 2007).
The record being played is an album called Way Back When by McGwyer Mortimer, a folk duo who hit their peak in 2014, and the song — which tells “a story about a man who’s tired of life” — signals the arrival of one half of the band, Herb McGwyer (Tom Basden), at a remote island. The island is so remote that it doesn’t have a jetty, let alone a harbor, resulting in slapstick scenes as he tries to disembark the dodgy rowing boat that’s delivering him.
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There to greet him is Charles (Tim Key), a bumbling, bear-like man who Herb assumes is a taxi driver, there to collect him and take him back to his hotel. But there is no taxi, and there is no hotel — Charles is taking him on a long, soggy walk back to his home (“A hotel in all but name”). The walk is made longer by Charles, whose well-meaning, irritating diarrhetic ramblings border on grating. Charles especially wants to know why Herb broke up with Nell Mortimer (Carey Mulligan), his partner in the band, but Herb refuses to be drawn. “I’m a private person,” says Herb. “I know,” says Charles. “So, what happened?”
Back at his house, a cozy mansion in need of some repair, Charles outlines his plan for the concert that Herb is there to play. “It won’t be Glastonbury,” he says cautiously. “Less than a hundred.” Herb isn’t fazed, but he is when Charles brings out a suitcase containing his performance fee: half a million quid in cash, with ￡50K up front. He learns that Charles is a retired male nurse who won the National Lottery not once but twice (“Two pounds well spent!”). And though Charles is clearly a fan of Herb’s music, it transpires that his late wife was actually a superfan. The concert will mark the fifth anniversary of her death, and the audience will consist solely of Charles: “Just me, my money and your beautiful music.” Herb takes it all in his stride. “I’ll take the money, do the gig, get a restraining order,” he tells his manager from the island’s only payphone.
What Herb doesn’t know is that Charles has booked — for a significantly smaller fee — a special guest, Nell, who arrives with her new partner, Michael (Akemnji Ndifornyen). Nell is now a boho housewife who sells chutney at a farmers’ market, and her presence awakens old differences, emotional and professional. Nell has never forgiven Herb for going solo without telling her, while Herb clearly still holds a torch for her, which is apparent when they harmonize. Charles is transported when they rehearse in front of him: They’ve still got something special. “And I’m not just talking music,” he says. “I’m talking chemistrally.”
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Is this Charles’ masterplan, not only to engineer a reunion but effectively matchmake for the estranged couple? It seems so, especially when Nell’s bird-watching husband is sent off on a puffin hunt on the other side of the island. This will-they-won’t-they tension is central to the film’s premise; just as Charles is trying to connect with his late wife by resurrecting her favorite band, Herb sees a chance to get back with Nell and get his career back on track after an ill-conceived foray into dance music. Though their musical partnership was unequal in terms of writing credits, Herb needs Nell to be his guide in life, as we see when he shows her the hideous artwork for Feat., his new album of collaborations. “Do you want me to say I like it,” she says, “or do you want me to be honest?”
Despite its familiar tone, however, The Ballad of Wallis Island isn’t entirely predictable, like a slightly goofy, role-reversal version of Powell and Pressburger’s I Know Where I’m Going, and while Basden’s original alt-folk numbers are scattered throughout the film, they don’t overpower the story. Though Basden is primarily known as a comic actor, he plays things largely straight here, leaving the funny stuff to Key, whose knowingly artless style of comedy will be familiar to fans of the Alan Partridge spinoff Mid-Morning Matters, in which he plays the host’s shambles of a sidekick Simon. Mulligan, meanwhile, brings her usual guest-star wattage, which shines brightly enough to counterbalance what might otherwise have been just a maudlin tale of lonely men and their music.
Title: The Ballad of Wallis Island
Festival: Sundance (Premieres)
Distributor: Focus Features
Director: James Griffiths
Screenwriters: Tom Basden, Tim Key
Cast: Tom Basden, Tim Key, Sian Clifford, Akemnji Ndifornyen, Carey Mulligan
Running time: 1 hr 39 mins
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