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Australia 1999
Directed by
Scott Patterson
77 minutes
Rated G

Reviewed by
Bernard Hemingway
1 stars

Wreck, A Tangle, A

Funded under the aegis of the Australian Film Commission/SBS Independent Million Dollar Movie scheme, this film probably owe its backers about $AU999,999.00 of its $AU1,000, 000 investment. The problem must lie in the script which is so wannabe-hip (the point-of-no-return comes early in the film when the Birthday Party's Shiver goes on the turntable) and lacking in dramatic credibility as to make one wonder if anyone bothered to read it prior to green-lighting the project.

The premise of a straight couple's cosy existence being upturned by their social opposites has been well-mined (from, for example, John Avildsen's Neighbours to Colline Serrau's Chaos) but here it is so implausibly-handled that it takes a good while to reconcile oneself to the realization that one is meant to take it seriously. Rebecca Firth as the straight female and Ann Lise Phillips as her hippy junkie opposite utter their lines as if they were reading off an auto-cue. The best thing about the film is that it only runs 77 minutes. Ahh, the moon, indeed.

 

 

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