Herb McGwyer is a folk legend, as he'd happily tell anyone who asked him at the beginning of the melancholic and charming Ballad of Wallis Island.
So what's he doing on a small boat headed for an island off the coast of Wales? Not to a dock on the island, of course, but to the island itself; he literally washes up on the beach, getting soaked in the process.
Director: James Griffiths
Writers: Tom Basden, Tim Key
Stars: Tom Basden, Tim Key, Sian Clifford
"Give me a soaking wet Judi!" says Charles (Tim Key), the sole member of the island's welcoming committee. Charles, an affable and always cheerful chatterbox, seems to have a silly joke for every occasion and a deep knowledge of Herb's catalog, especially his early work.
When it becomes clear that Charles is also paying for the gig, Herb, played by Tom Basden, starts muttering about not giving private gigs for oil magnates and wonders if he really wants to do this one.
Charles, happily, is not an oil magnate, but a lottery winner. Twice. And this second time, he decided to give a concert close to home with his favorite singer. Or rather, singers—plural—although he didn't mention that he also flew in Herb's ex-bandmate/ex-girlfriend (Carey Mulligan), along with her American husband (Akemnji Ndifornyen).
And if that weren't enough, there's the audience. Charles told Herb there would be "less than a hundred." In reality, it's just Charles.
"I'm going to have to get a restraining order," Herb muses.
Perhaps moviegoers are starting to think so, too, so it's good that in James Griffiths's meandering story, the preparations part has its charm. For the singers, of course, who are returning to their usual musical groove, but also for Charles, who can barely contain his joy at having them on his island. In case there was any doubt, his superfan status is cemented when the singers discover he has one of Herb's old guitars and a lock of what he'd been told was Nell's hair.
"You've been ripped off," Nell tells him sweetly, "but I can cut some off before I go, if you'd like."
However, it's when Herb and Nell begin to harmonize softly that the film finds its emotional groove. Actors Basden (the songwriter) and Mulligan, warm and genuine, make the two singers the perfect couple Charles remembers. Although Nell has long been retired from music, and Herb has enjoyed considerable success since their split, he realizes that what he had with her was the most satisfying part of his career. So it's nostalgia that unites them: Nell missed music, Herb missed Nell, and all that joking has masked what Charles missed.
Actors Basden and Key form a long-standing comic duo: "The Ballad of Wallis Island" expands on a short film they made with director Griffiths 18 years ago. But the addition of Mulligan to the mix grounds their comic work: her presence deepens and enlivens it, fusing it with other elements. The result is simultaneously a romance between two unlikely couples, a fairly respectable musical offering, and a nostalgic look at the memories we all hold in the harmonies of our minds, the ones we carry with us throughout life.
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