'The Ballad of Wallis Island' is a crowd-pleasing folk-music comedy worth crowing about

At this year’s Sundance, I blushed each clip idiosyncratic asked astir my favourite movies of the fest. I knew I’d person to see James Griffiths’ “The Ballad of Wallis Island,” a twee-sounding British drama astir a people instrumentalist named Herb McGwyer (Tom Basden) who plays a gig connected a distant Welsh land for his No. 1 fan, Charles (Tim Key).

Sundance is each astir championing bold caller discoveries that volition electrify the creation form. But this sentimental charmer is virtually acoustic: an enlargement of the 2007 BAFTA-nominated abbreviated movie “The One and Only Herb McGwyer Plays Wallis Island,” which, similar the feature, was directed by Griffiths with a publication from Basden and Key. And it’s thing astir arsenic uncommon arsenic a revelation: a crowdpleaser I’d urge to everyone. And I have, from the market store clerks successful Park City to my aunt to my metalhead pal — and present I’m tipping you off, too.

The halfway communicative has deepened implicit the decennary and a fractional it took to enlarge it to full-length. Eighteen years ago, indie people was ascendant successful the U.K. with the enactment of Mumford & Sons, and already connected the airwaves successful the States acknowledgment to Sufjan Stevens, Fleet Foxes and the Plain White T’s. The abbreviated film’s incarnation of Herb McGwyer had much hair, much anticipation and much cool-kid credibility successful popular culture. This older Herb knows his highest has passed. Once, helium sold retired shows arsenic fractional of the people duo McGwyer Mortimer; today, he’s a sell-out. His ex-bandmate and erstwhile woman Nell Mortimer (Carey Mulligan) stopped speaking to him ages agone successful favour of expatriating to Portland, Ore., to merchantability chutney astatine farmers markets.

We don’t perceive immoderate of Herb’s post-duo commercialized hits, but we’re meant to presume they’re godawful. His temper definite is. Having sullenly agreed to a £500,000 paycheck for 1 show, Herb gets drenched arsenic soon arsenic his vessel wobbles into Wallis Island and spends astir of the movie with his bangs plastered pathetically to his forehead. He’s adjacent grown himself a hipster mustache of despair.

Herb’s patron, Charles, is simply a mysterious mega-millionaire who has spent a luck for a backstage show. An apple-cheeked, motor-mouthed fanboy, helium doesn’t acceptable the illustration of, say, erstwhile Libyan dictator Moammar Kadafi who managed to bid performances from Mariah Carey and Beyoncé. Charles swears up and down his luck isn’t from thing evil and Key’s grin is capable to person you. He’s ne'er done thing crueler than instrumentality a room publication past due.

Charles utilized a chunk of his wealth to question the satellite and settled down with souvenir magnets cluttering each inch of his fridge. “Katmandu was precise overmuch a lawsuit of Katman-did,” the lonely widower says, bubbling implicit with his request to impressment his celebrated impermanent oregon really, conscionable to speech to anybody. The composer Adem Ilhan has written a lukewarm people of creaky horns and foot-stomping jangles to brace with Basden’s 16 archetypal songs, but the film’s existent soundtrack is Charles’ changeless chatter. (Key acted a insignificant relation arsenic the Pigeon Man successful Bong Joon Ho’s “Mickey 17,” but helium launched his vocation arsenic a comic poet.) Quips, puns, allusions — the nonsense tumbles retired of him truthful fast, you hardly person clip to marque consciousness of 1 gag earlier he’s onto the next.

I’d telephone “Wallis Island” a contender for the astir quotable movie of the twelvemonth but determination are truthful galore bully lines stacked connected apical of each other, and truthful overmuch giggling connected apical of that, it’s intolerable to support up with Key’s wordplay. Presenting Herb with a vessel of Johnny Walker Blue, helium calls it a “Winona.” As successful Ryder, arsenic successful a circuit rider, arsenic successful the goodies a instrumentalist expects successful their dressing room.

Only erstwhile does Charles find himself stymied. “Well, I’m speechless,” helium says to capable the silence.

“Well, you’re not,” Herb rebuts.

Yet, there’s a cyclone of emotions wrong this goofball that helium ne'er lets retired — ne'er ever. If helium did, the movie would get maudlin. But determination are clues: Watch however furiously Charles plays tetherball erstwhile nary 1 is looking.

Basden and Key person been performing unneurotic since they were connected the Cambridge Footlights sketch squad successful 2001. (Key wasn’t a assemblage student, but helium pretended to beryllium penning a PhD thesis connected Nikolai Gogol — existent story.) They’re comfy making things awkward. That the movie is changeable similar a play prevents their odd-couple clash from getting cartoonish. Griffiths keeps astir of the humiliations subtle, alternatively than sitcom ample — say, having Herb deterioration Charles’ aged tees, 1 of which is simply a McGwyer Mortimer circuit garment of his ain face.

The assemblage volition spot the astonishment accomplishment of Mulligan’s Nell coming similar a warship connected the horizon. His estranged ex’s quality alongside her caller American husband, Michael (Akemnji Ndifornyen), gobsmacks this snob disconnected his pedestal. Nell knows Herb good capable to beryllium thoroughly unimpressed. When Herb reveals his caller backmost tattoo, exposing that a feline who erstwhile prided himself connected authenticity is present desperately chasing trends, Mulligan’s Nell hardly cocks an eyebrow.

“Cool,” she says. Her neutrality is brutal.

Mulligan has been edging toward drama without committing to it. She’s large successful that saccharine spot of playing either narcissistic fools (like “Saltburn’s” Poor Dear Pamela) oregon here, a pistillate who shows up with a crippled program to beryllium assured and droll. Although Mulligan is the newbie wrong this filmmaking team, she astir apt knows the folk-star satellite much intimately than immoderate of them — she’s been joined to the vocalist of Mumford & Sons since 2012.

The publication promptly sends her fictional spouse disconnected connected a birding expedition truthful that Herb and Nell tin get dilatory and persuasively reacquainted. (Pun-happy Charles would nary uncertainty telephone the conveniently exiled husband’s travel a McGuffin of puffins.) With conscionable 1 different quality worthy mentioning, a daffy store clerk played by “Fleabag’s” Sian Clifford, there’s lone truthful galore moves a communicative this tiny tin make. The movie can’t spend to beryllium shy astir contrivances, but it’s lone consenting to cheat connected facts, not feelings.

You tin ideate however things volition play retired and you’d beryllium adjacent but not exact. Griffiths doesn’t combat against the formula, helium conscionable takes our expectations for each country and gingers them up a little, the movie mentation of a cozy sweater threaded with tinsel. It’s the euphony that takes things from pleasant to almighty — not conscionable indie folk’s earnest refrains, but the mode everyone hides down the songs’ pretense of candor portion keeping their ain walls sky-high. All 3 leads croon on with these axenic emotions, each 1 believing they’ve grown to cognize each other, either done their ain lyrics oregon Charles’ nonstop blather. Yet whenever 1 claims to cognize what different idiosyncratic wants, they’re usually wrong.

Key, successful particular, plays each the these layers beautifully. Blunt arsenic his Charles is, helium proves to beryllium the astir guarded of the trio; determination are unsung stanzas of sadness successful his eyes. He mightiness unfastened up if his heroes asked. Except he’s the geek, the hanger-on, the wealth man, truthful cipher does. Fandom isn’t painless. But “Wallis Island” is worthy applause.