I was fortunate enough to receive a free double pass to Stephen Elliott's first cinematic production in a decade (courtesy of Bigpond Movies) and trust me, this is a film I would PAY to see again. Did just hear that right? She did just say she would PAY to see an Australian COMEDY?? Madness!
Precisely. You see, A Few Best Men is more than JUST a comedy. Its an exhibition. A statement. And most importantly, a revolution for the Australian film industry. Elliott and his team have blended pure innocence with stark-raving chaos, the likes of which we have not seen since Superbad. In a bid to contain myself, I will limit my evaluation of this beautiful, saving-Grace of a film to just 3 main points.
1. IT'S FUNNY!!!
Australia has actually made a few comedies over the past few years but of the ones we remember, only a few come to mind. Namely, The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert, The Castle, and of course, Crocodile Dundee. The trend? Well, other than overly-clichéd characters and a lot of retro hairdos, all of these films are over 10 years old! No one (yes, I will make this claim) has managed to come up with a comedy that Australia has deemed worth watching (Ok Kenny, you may be an exception). A Few Best Men is Australian through and through but the main reason why is because Craig and Elliot have done what all Australians love to do - they have poked fun at their very own people through the bewildered eyes of their four leading men. From the perspective of Tom, Graham, Luke and most importantly, David (not Dave), we see our country the way the rest of the world sees it and God are we a funny bunch. More than that, they take the biggest mickey out of our favourite punters - The Brits - possibly the best part of the whole film. These four in their own right are legends but at the same time are utterly, hopelessly, and completely British. Through crafty dialogue (natural for both tongues), a quick pace to keep the audience on their toes, and a larrikin tone to not make things too serious (there may or may not have been a near suicide attempt), Elliott's comedy is just like his most famous film (Priscilla for all of you scratching your heads) - its brave, its bold and most importantly, "you better pull your socks up because you're about to have them knocked off."
2. You couldn't have a better cast.
Newton-John, Marshall, Bishop, Draxl and Le Marquand all take the Oscar for best performances in this film. Hilariously eccentric all with believable qualities, these characters are all integral to the speed and direction in which this film heads. Not to say that Samuel and Brent don't have their shining moments - they do - but their roles within the film are much more centred on, well, keeping everyone centred. We relate to this gorgeous couple, wish hopefully that yes, true love does exist beyond the hurdles and that maybe, just maybe, its a real thing too. Everyone in this film knew their place, what part of the play they were all destined to perform. There were no show ponies. No prize-grabbers. Everyone appeared to be having as much fun on screen as we are sure they had offscreen. It is a delight for an audience to associate themselves with such an experience. A big congratulations to everyone involved (Hear, hear!)
3. The importance of collaboration.
You would be very hard-pressed to say that this is JUST an Australian film. So too would you be to say it is JUST an English film. What the creators of this story have done is set aside their desires to lay claim to this magical piece and accepted that no one needs to attach a label to it. I believe wholeheartedly that this is the only way our (Australia's) industry is going to flourish - by accepting that we are not big enough to take on the world (America) by ourselves and therefore we need to offer our crew, our locations and our ideas to the rest of the world (the rest of the world) in order to make films with them - film which will then be sent on to the rest of the world (I'm not going to continue with this but you get the drift) and have a much better chance of seeing the inside of a theater that doesn't resemble your grandma's living room.
I have high hopes for this film. I really do feel that 2012 is the year of the Australian film, what with news of Blue-Tongue films recently well-received premiere of Wish You Were Here, as well as planned future collaborations for production companies (such as See Saw Films with Shame), and A Few Best Men is a great way to start the new year. We're taking the time to perfect our craft and its paying off. I really hope Australia gets their wallets out this Australia Day (A Few Best Men opens January 26) and pays their fine cents towards this awesome little film.
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