The Ballad of Wallis Island is a feature-length adaptation of a short film from 2007. For better and worse, it shows. Both films feature the actors Tim Key and Tom Basden, and both were directed by James Griffiths. What has compelled them to make this into a feature nearly twenty years later? The slightness of the premise is apparent off the bat but you’d be surprised by how much substance they’re able to squeeze out of it. It’s a comedy, but because it’s also British, the laughter is bittersweet, wrapped in melancholy. Key plays an eccentric loner obsessed with a moody musician played by Basden. Their dynamic may remind many of Steve Martin and John Candy in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, while the acoustic music throughout may recall John Carney’s Once. If that feels like a strange tonal mix, you’re not wrong.

Charles (Key) is a two-time lottery winner and widower who’s purchased a private island in a beautiful but rainy part of the UK. With an offer of a half million pounds, he convinces his favorite musical artist, Herb McGwyer (Basden), to come visit the island for a small concert. How small? We quickly learn that Charles will be the only audience member. Upon arrival, Herb is surprised by the lo-fi nature of the setting, immediately falling into the water upon leaving the charter boat. Further surprises arise when he realizes that his hotel is actually just Charles’s house further inland, where he’s given almost no privacy from his obsessive host. Herb used to be part of a hugely successful folk duo with singer Nell Mortimer (Carey Mulligan), and those early songs are what Charles is most interested in hearing, but Herb has moved on from that period, forming a solo career with a much more commercial sound.

Herb’s old songs with Nell are Wallis Island‘s biggest nod to Once, the acoustic melodies and vocal harmonies really bringing back that 2007 sound in a way that can give you whiplash. These days, Herb is a persnickety fellow who can barely hide his contempt for his current, more mainstream music. Having Charles obsess over a past he squandered doesn’t brighten his spirits. Things really get awkward when Herb learns that Charles has also invited Nell to the island, who arrives the next day with her new husband, Michael (Akemnji Ndifornyen). She no longer performs, but lives a modest life making chutney. That said, she jumps at the chance to sing her old songs – and make some extra cash. Her presence heightens Herb’s anxieties, though he quickly re-learns his love for their collaboration as they begin to practice for the concert.

Getting Carey Mulligan for this cast is the movie’s big catch. The multi-Oscar-nominated actress seldom gets to play characters this easy-going and charming. Her talent and reputation give the film a dab of legitimacy but it also gives the movie’s most contrived plot points – the tension between Herb and Nell – some life as she gives her character much more verve than what appears on the script. The film’s real story is between Herb and Charles, how one man’s grief confronts another man’s regret. Their sadness manifests in completely different ways, but in their communion, they manage to form an unsuspecting bond. It’s actually impressive how much Griffiths and his two actors actually manage to make that arc satisfying and believable, even if I still find myself needing more info about Charles.

This is a fine enough comedy, that lacks the profundity it needs to be a true success. Griffiths takes advantage of the natural beauty of his setting, but more often feels bound by the restrictions. It feels like a real stretch to even get this movie to 99 minutes. Scenes with Michael feel superfluous, and often contradictory. A subplot about a local shopkeeper (played by Sian Clifford) who could be a potential romantic link for Charles, never really becomes organic to the story, especially since the main fact we know about Charles is that he’s overcome with grief for his dead wife. Expecting more from The Ballad of Wallis Island feels unfair because it barely seems to expect much more out of itself. It gives us a collection of hangs on a rainy weekend, and does a pretty good job recreating that vibe.

 

Directed by James Griffiths