Australian Comedy Films

Gettin' Square is basically about a bunch of convicts with one main goal, to "get square", or clean from their past lives.  The main character Barry was put on parole because of the death of his mother and he was in jail for eight years for a murder he says he did not commit and that Arnie, who is a crooked cop, framed him for this crime.  Spit is a friend of Barry's from jail who got put on parole as well, and they are hired by Darren who owns a restaurant.  Darren has also had some run-ins with the law in the past.  There are many comical twists as they all try to stay out of trouble while dealing with things from their past. The crooked cop Arnie is involved with the town gangster Chico, and Barry decides to get Arnie back for what he did to him.  Barry, Spit, Darren and a few of their friends all collaborate to catch Arnie in the act so he will get arrested.  In the end, their plan works to put Arnie behind bars and they all achieve their goal of gettin' square in their lives.

I didn't think this was exactly a comedy film, it seemed more or less like it was an action film that used humor for comic relief.  A particularly humorous part of the film is when Spit is in court to get placed on parole (as seen in the clip above).  He is obviously on drugs, but you can also tell that he is messing with the judges.  He acts like he doesn't know anything and it frustrates the judges.  Another thing that is definitely hilarious is Darren's wife.  She is part of a weight-loss support group and she made Darren join the group.  His wife is dramatically over the top and it is hilarious to see a big, tough guy like Darren go to the meetings.  I really enjoyed this movie; I would definitely watch it again!

                                                      
       $9.99 is a stop motion animation film that used puppets  to create the world of  an apartment building in Sidney. Based om the short stories of Etgar Keret. It was adapted for film by Keret and director Tatia Rosenthal. It is a series of interacting short stories about the people in the apartment building. The Peck family are the link between stories. I the beginning, Jim Peck, the father, has and interaction with a homeless man who threatens to kill himself if Jim does not give him a dollar for a cup of coffee. After an interaction between them, Jim gets him to put the gun down and asks the homeless man to repeat the request without threatening and see what happens. He did, Jim refused and said maybe he would give him the dollar tomorrow, and the homeless man blew his brains out in front of him. (not so funny for a film listed as a comedy). Jim has two sons, Dave & Lenny. Dave is unemployed and has little interest in getting a job, he likes to cook. The job he wanted was a telemarketing job and they told him he was not qualified. Jim wants Dave to get a job with Lenny as a Repo man. There is a woman and her boyfriend in another apartment having relationship issues, a little boy who likes to play soccer, and a lonely old man who all live in the building also. All of whom intersect with each other at different times. The woman is the little boy's teacher, she talks to the old man in the elevator and Lenny tries to pick her up in the coffee shop. The little boy kicks his soccer ball and Dave catches it, and talks to Lenny in the elevator. The little boy's dad gives him a piggy bank to save money for the action figure he wants, he pays him fifty cents each time he drinks his milk. The little old man gets a visitor, and angel that smokes and likes to eat donuts and cookies. The angel is the homeless man from the beginning.
The reason the film is called $9.99 is that Dave buys a book from an add that claims it will tell him the meaning of life for a mere $9.99. After he reads that and tried to tell his father about it (his father didn't listen), he ordered a book that will tell him how to get people to pay attention to him for $9.99. He later got a letter form the company saying that they were going out of business and no longer had the second book in stock, so they sent him a book on "How to swim like a dolphin". Ironically, this book helps him reconnect with his father.
       This film had some funny moments but the ending was confusing. I'm not sure how I felt about it.
The technical aspects of the film were interesting. On the film's' website there is information about the film process and the making of the film http://www.9dollars99movie.com/. The cast of voices are all internationally known Australian actors. It took them forty weeks to make the film. according to one web site. The total income for the film was over $700,000. It was not widely distributed, premiering at the Toronto film festival in 2008. Rotten Tomatoes .com gave this film a "Fresh"rating.

Muriel's Wedding is about a girl named Muriel who is desperately trying to find her place in the world.  She hangs out with all of the popular girls and dresses like they do, but she can never seem to fit in.  It doesn't help that her father treats the entire family as if they were worthless. He was in the running for state governor but lost the election and he blames this loss on his family, so he constantly tells them that they are horrible and meaningless.  Because of this, Muriel thinks the only way to be successful in life is to get married.  She moves to Sydney from her hometown Porpoise Spit (love that name right?) with her best friend Rhonda.  Rhonda lives a carefree lifestyle and encourages Muriel to do the same.  When Rhonda finds out she has cancer, Muriel becomes a little desperate and plans out a fake wedding to make herself feel better.  She also begins looking through newspaper ads to find someone looking for a marriage (I didn't even know that part of the paper existed...) and finds a swimmer competing for the Olympics that needs to get married so he doesn't get deported.  Muriel willingly enters this marriage after only meeting her soon-to-be hubby once.  She is completely ecstatic at her wedding, not even acknowledging her mother that came all the way to Sydney to see her wedding.  Muriel's picture-perfect life comes to a fast stop when she learns of the suicide of her mother.  After this, she realizes what is really important to her and she finally feels the confidence that she has been searching for her whole life.

I know that this doesn't really sound like a comedy with events like cancer and suicide, but I think that's what makes this film work so well.  It's not a straight comedy or a straight drama, it's the perfect blend of the two.  One thing I found particularly humorous was Muriel's sister, Joanie.  Every time Muriel gets herself into trouble, Joanie never fails to say, "You're terrible, Muriel" in a mocking way.  It's so great.  Another thing was Muriel's "friends", aka the popular girls, Tania, Janine and Nicole.  They are in a constant love triangle; they sleep with each others husbands behind their backs, but still they are best friends.  Rhonda also has absolutely no problem with telling them exactly how awful they are and what she thinks of them, which is great because they think they are so much better than everyone else, but Rhonda puts them in their place.  Also, Muriel herself is just plain hilarious.  When she moves to Sydney with Rhonda, she really blossoms into her own person.  She sports a ridiculous smile any time she has a run-in with a guy and she outbursts into laughter at the most inappropriate times.  The entire movie has undertones of the gay rights and feminist movement that swept through Australia beginning in the 60's.  Signs of this are the constant ABBA songs, Muriel and Rhonda dressing in ridiculous costumes and dancing, and Muriel finding her own path that did not include marriage to a man, but a life with Rhonda.  This film is very similar to other films we watched, like Priscilla and Strictly Ballroom.  I thought this was a great film; it brought the pleasures of a comedy and a drama, while revealing issues that are going on in Australia today.

Here is my personal favorite scene from this movie (Rhonda telling Tania how it is...):

I have noticed by watching these Australian films that there are some similarities among them. First of all they seem to like the F word. They use it very fluently. Second, they do not pick "attractive" actors and actresses, at least not by  Hollywood standards. It doesn't seem much of a priority. The parts that I enjoyed the most throughout the movie The Man who Sewed God were the more slap stick comedy parts. For example, the scene where the main character is drunk at the start and keeps hitting and falling on the journalist.  It was just one unfortunate accident after another. Speaking of unfortunate accidents, the fact that he got stuck out in a really bad storm and debris injured his foot and sunk his boat was extremely unfortunate.  Also the way the insurance company was treating him was completely unjust. This movie is a comedy but it has very interesting theological and social justice implications. It sounds absurd when one hears that this man is trying to sue God but really he is trying to show how ridiculous this policy is that the insurance companies have in place. They are using God as a way to jip people out of money. They are abusing the name of God, so by him suing God he isn't being blasphemes, he is calling out the misuse of God's name. This is very much an underdog story fighting for justice, I think, more than a comedy. It reminds me of The Castle because of the injustice being done to the common man and then the common man sticking up for himself. Both men were offered money settlements but both men refused because they were fighting something bigger than what money could buy. Also both movie climaxes happened in a courtroom. I also thought it was funny that the bus he went on had the destination of Eden, which is a cool biblical reference to the Garden of Eden. Also, a visual trope throughout the movie is the sky. The shots of the sunrises, sunsets and beautiful cloud movements. I think the reason for this is a constant feeling of God's presence. It is a reminder that God has a part in the situations going on.  The bird bursting through the courtroom window in slow motion was a little much for me. I understand what the film makers were doing but it seemed a bit cheesy.

 Crackerjacks is a story about Jack Simpson, a wise cracking slacker who joined the bowling club for the free parking. The bowling club's membership is dwindling because of the members increasing ages and, therefore, have financial difficulties. One of the members can no longer bowl on the team, so Jack gets a call telling him he has to bowl or give up his membership. Jack becomes very good at lawn bowling. He also gets drafted for other club related activities. The members are a unique group of characters and grudgingly accept Jack as a member.
      Of course, there is a character that is trying to take over the club for his own agenda. The guy, 'Pokies King' Bernie Fowler, wants to put slot machines in "to make money for the club", but the money will really just go into his pocket. In order for the club to keep its charter and stay open without the slots, the bowling team needs to win the tournament. There are many funny moments in this film. They have a costume party to raise money. They have a bake sale and one of the ladies coincidentally uses some marijuana that 'somebody' (the grounds keeper) was storing in the refrigerator in her cookies. Everybody that eats them gets high and acts accordingly. Bernie finds out about the incident and calls the cops. The president of the club gets arrested for the drugs. Jack helps figure out that it was the grounds keeper and gets the president out of jail.
      Over the coarse of the film, Jack looses his job and girlfriend; he also finds a new relationship with a reporter that is covering lawn bowling for her newspaper. Without revealing to much of the ending, he has a new job , new friends and girlfriend by the end. I really enjoyed this film. The eclectic characters were funny and a joy to watch. I would recommend this movie to anybody.