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'Wah-Wah': Out of Swaziland

This week sees the release of two films by actors making their feature-directing debuts. Like "The Lost City," Richard E. Grant's "Wah-Wah" is set in the filmmaker's childhood home, which is now irrevocably altered by history. The setting this time is Swaziland on the eve of the '70s, where Ralphie Compton ("About a Boy's" Nicholas Hoult) witnesses the waning days of the British Empire.

Samuel Goldwyn Films 'Wah-Wah' 2 out of 5 stars Director: Richard E. Grant Starring: Gabriel Byrne, Miranda Richardson, Nicholas Hoult, Emily Watson, Julie Walters Run time: 99 minutes Release date: May 12, 2006 Rating: R for some language and brief sexuality. See showtimes On the web Official movie site View the trailer    Trailers require Quicktime Rate 'Wah-Wah'   Go see it   Make it a matinee   Wait to rent   Don't bother Voter Limit: Once per Hour View Poll Results

Grant is less interested than "The Lost City's" Andy Garcia is in romanticizing the Cuba of his youth. We get occasional glimpses of African desert and the natives who inhabit it, but most of the film occurs at a generic social club and in the Compton household, where Ralphie's life is defined by domestic unhappiness.

Ralph takes it hard when his mother (Miranda Richardson) runs off with another man, and isn't too comforted when his now-alcoholic dad (Gabriel Byrne) remarries an American. The latter development is good for the film, though, as Emily Watson (a British actress here sporting a sassy American accent) brings some life to an otherwise dour melodrama. Grant is generous to his fine cast, but few characters are fleshed out enough for us to care about them and the story itself is nothing new.

One gets the feeling that "Wah-Wah" would have made a more compelling book. In fact, Grant has published "The Wah-Wah Diaries," his memoirs of the making of the film. As a director, he can't quite get us into the heads of his characters, but on paper, Grant (who has penned a novel and another nonfiction book already) might have more success.