The Ballad Of Wallis Island review – relishes in…

“No man is an island,” so goes the poem by John Donne, which was an idea resolutely rejected by Hugh Grant’s dedicated bachelor in the adaptation of Nick Hornby’s About a Boy who stated, “I am an island. I am bloody Ibiza!” It’s a sentiment that may have been embraced by the two main characters in this gentle British bromance written by comic genius Tim Key and Tom Basden who both star as men who are a little lost. It’s directed by James Griffiths and based on a short film from 2007 which has been expanded to include more characters and tenderly composed folk tunes by Adem Ilhan.

Key plays Charles, an eccentric millionaire who inhabits a mansion on an isolated island off the coast of Wales. Motivated by nostalgia for indie folk duo McGwyer (Basden) and Mortimer (Carey Mulligan) who were big in the ’00s and acrimoniously broke up, he invites them to his island to play a private gig. McGwyer is blindsided by Mortimer’s presence which leads him on an existential crisis. He begins to question whether he sold out for his solo career and why exactly their romance failed. The only man that has his shit together is Michael (Akemnji Ndifornyen), Mortimer’s loving partner and bird enthusiast. They’re also joined by Sian Clifford who plays the local shopkeeper.

It sounds like the set up for a classic horror film but it plays out as charming comedy and upbeat musical. Its lightness of tone is a throwback to 00s British comedies starring the aforementioned floppy-haired Grant such as Music and Lyrics and About a Boy. The film contains lovely notions about the interconnectedness of humans but its main focus is on the odd couple dynamic between Charles and McGwyer. As it leans into their bromance it places males in crisis, their fragile egos and emotions under the microscope. Perhaps a necessary tonic for modern times.

Charles is grieving and struggling to move on, while McGwyer’s glamorous lifestyle has disconnected him from reality and from forming any meaningful bonds. The screenplay addresses this through his past relationship with Mortimer who has traded in music for a grounded home-life. Even if Mortimer gets a small amount of screen time, she is at least a character who is shaded in enough to make her credible, plus her boho Lucy & Yak inspired outfits are to die for. Mulligan and Basden also share great chemistry especially in the scenes when they’re engaging in musical joviality and melancholy.

The screenplay written by the duo relishes in daft physical comedy, the absurdity of the situation and Charles’s awkward ways. It’s fair to say that Key gives himself all the best one-liners which are of course delivered with perfect deadpan hilarity. It may be a tad uneven and repetitive in places but it’s also enjoyably sweet and silly. If this film were a folk band, it may not headline the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury but it would make a pleasant afternoon watch over at the Other Stage.

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