"Wah Wah" directed by Richard E. Grant [review]

Abstract

Richard E. Grant is, for many cinemagoers, one of today’s most cherished actors. Since his raucously brilliant, star-making performance in Withnail & I (1986) Grant has enjoyed almost constant work as an actor, and his pedigree is up there with the best of them. From seething villains to bitchy butlers, from romantic luvvies to noble heroic leads, Grant has shown, in a career of breathtaking scope, that he can convincingly portray almost anything. He has demonstrated enviable skill as a writer, too; his wonderful film memoir “With Nails” (published in 1997) documented, with amazing humour and wit, his first few projects as a major star. With Wah-Wah, his directorial debut, Grant has combined the two aspects of his creative life (filmmaking and writing) and used them to tell a funny, moving and heartfelt coming of age story, inspired by his own experiences as an adolescent in Swaziland.