If I have any bit of clout at this school, and I like to think I do, then I want to use my efforts as film critic to bring awareness to the smaller films nobody has heard of that is worth your time. There’s no point in me being the 100th person to tell you that “Real Steel” and “Paranormal Activity 3” suck, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to spend a week publicly reviewing the new “Twilight” movie. Again.

So, it’s with great pleasure I introduce you to “Submarine,” a United Kingdom import that’s presented by Ben Stiller. Funny, quirky and sweet in the oddest way possible, bringing “Submarine” to the states is the smartest thing Stiller’s done since “There’s Something About Mary.” We won’t forget theunnecessary sequel to “Night at the Museum” that quick.

“Submarine” is one of those coming-of-age tales. Oliver Tate (Craig Roberts) is a teenager in Wales that wants two things in life. First, he wants to save his parents’ (Sally Hawkins and Noah Taylor) marriage after he thinks his mom is having an affair with the New Age philosopher Graham (Paddy Considine). Oliver monitors how often his parents are intimate by what the light dimmer is set to. If it’s set halfway, that means they made love the night before.

Oliver also wants to hook up with the prep school bully Jordana (Yasmin Paige). Actually, Jordana isn’t so much a bully herself as she encourages bullying. She is virtually flawless, sans the spots of eczema on her skin. Those are all Oliver’s observations, not mine.

And it’s Oliver’s observations that make this movie such a joy. Whereas we all sit and ponder what our life would be like as a movie, “Submarine” is occasionally a movie about the life of a guy that often imagines his life is a movie. He muses that any movie made about his life will be too low-budget to afford an aerial shot, so a generic zoom-out will just have to do. Cue zoom-out.

I also liked how the film opens up with a letter from Oliver thanking America for not yet invading Wales, and how Wales is a great place because it gave the world Tom Jones and Catherine-Zeta Jones.

I’ve dated guys like Oliver in my days. They’re ornery, exhausting to get to know on an interpersonal leve, and just not fun to be around. But for a movie like “Submarine,”  people like Oliver are fun to watch if you’re experiencing their behavior objectively instead of being subjected to it.

And Oliver is still charming even though he’s kind of a jerk. A fictional (or non-fictional, I guess) character doesn’t necessarily have to be likeable to be interesting. For those of us that read “Catcher in the Rye,” we remember J.D. Salinger not making Holden Caulfield exactly a model citizen, but he was definitely interesting to read about.

Taylor brings Oliver to life with enough humanity that he’s interesting and not one-dimensional. I also enjoyed the snark that Paige brings to Jordana. For example, when she gives Oliver a diary to write about their first kiss, she tells him what to write. I enjoyed the parameters she sets for their relationship: no pet name(s), no hand-holding, and no emotions because those are only for gay relationships.

I loved the look and sound of “Submarine.” Alex Turner, front man for The Arctic Monkeys, provides a lot of the hip tunes, including the song “Piledriver Waltz” which closes the film nicely.

I consider “Submarine” a real hidden gem and one of the year’s best films. It’s a shame that movies like “Submarine” don’t stay afloat in the water of mindless Hollywood films. Ha, get it?