All Men Are Liars

Although the title suggests an inner-city 30-somethings romantic comedy this is actually a Far North teen comedy with a dash of romance. Well-written by Lee who isn't quite as quick-witted as a director this is nevertheless an amiably amusing film and manages to hit the target (for example, a sequence involving a trouser lizard, an exploding Ford Falcon and a very bad haircut) more times than it misses (for example, a poorly staged barbershop duet).

John Jarratt holds the show together as Barry O'Brien, town barber and wannabe rock'n'roll singer, The King of Cane Country, as he is introduced at the local fair) whose immature ways forces his 17 year-old son (David Price) to masquerade as a girl and join a lesbian-run pop band where he becomes the object of desire to the singer, Angela (Toni Pearen). Pearen, although perky, is too old for the part and this robs the film of the charm it might have had had a younger actress been cast. Whilst Price has trouble convincing us as well as he apparently does his fellow cast members that he's a girl, the script never tries too hard for laughs and is good-hearted enough to be consistently diverting.

 

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