Watson shifts from deceptively demur to hellcat without losing a beat or upstaging the rest of the film.

| May 12, 2020

After watching his directorial debut, Wah-Wah, I'd like [Richard] Grant to stay in front of the camera.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Sep 17, 2007

Emily Watson is delightful as the American step-mother, as is the rest of the ensemble.

| Original Score: B | Jun 21, 2007

Grant has crafted a handsome period piece that never betrays his first-timer status.

| Feb 22, 2007

While this is clearly a very personal film for Grant, and he seems to want to tackle some serious issues, his vision is too clouded by nostalgia to be truly compelling.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Jul 6, 2006

Grant is an impressively assured filmmaker, especially for a first-timer.

| Original Score: 8/10 | Jun 30, 2006

Only occasionally successful . . .

Full Review | Jun 29, 2006

Wah-Wah is never less than good but it's also never quite great.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Jun 24, 2006

Full of too much blah, blah. And way too much of the shrill, shrieking, screaming, carrying-on variety.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Jun 23, 2006

The lush African setting sets this coming-of-age saga apart - it's too bad Grant didn't use it for more than picture-postcard backdrops.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jun 23, 2006

Ralph's life, at least as it's presented here, isn't all that interesting, and Grant fails to elevate the ordinary into anything more than that.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Jun 16, 2006

I admired the movie and was happy to see it but can think of two other films about whites in Africa that do a better job of seeing their roles.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 16, 2006

I admire how Grant's writing and direction take Africa for granted (pardon the pun) in the sense that we are spared longing long shots of landscapes and similar signs of awestruck filmmaking. It's is the real thing, no wah-wah about it.

| Jun 15, 2006

Watching it is like trying to assemble a puzzle that's missing pieces: You can see the outline of a story, and some shapes fit neatly together, but there are undeniable holes.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Jun 15, 2006

Rare is the honest labor of love that doesn't have some redeeming value, and Wah-Wah ultimately wins you over with its sincerity.

| Original Score: B- | Jun 8, 2006

The film "Wah-Wah" comes across as contrived and artificial.

| Jun 4, 2006

We've seen these characters before, and aside from Ruby, they aren't all that fascinating.

| Jun 3, 2006

Deftly balancing the end of British colonialism in Africa against a family's painful disintegration, Wah-Wah marks the impressive directing debut of Richard E. Grant.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 2, 2006

The actors give it a spark, and Grant directs his fine cast with sureness.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Jun 2, 2006

Maybe the film is loyal to memory, yet it loses steam while gaining speed. The plot becomes a turnstile.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Jun 2, 2006