REVIEW: Crackers By Luke Buckmaster (bucky@alphalink.com.au)
Australian theatrical release date: July 9
>From 0 stars (bomb), to 5 stars (a masterpiece): 2 and a half stars
As partly a drama, partly a comedy and partly a ridiculous sitcom, how Crackers got the go-ahead is anybody's guess. No doubt last years The Castle gave inspiration to this Aussie backyard adventure, and whilst it is nice to see another Australian comedy wrestling with the big guys, Crackers fails to have the low brow, witty sense of humor that its predecessor was loved for.
Although I'm a little sick of seeing cliché Australian "blokes and sheilas", I couldn't help but enjoy the line up of characters that Crackers delivers. You've got your misinterpreted young lad, Joey (Daniel Kellie), his eccentric great grandfather Albert (Warren Mitchell), Joey's mum Hilary (Susan Lyons) and her boyfriend Bruno (Peter Rowsthorn). There's also Bruno's bully son, Angus (Christopher Chapman), plus a dog, Joey's grandfather, grandmother, great aunt, and a rooster.
Sound interesting? Well it is…sort of. These characters are fairly enjoyable to watch, but not enough development is given to any one of them. We can never fully understand the troubled mind of Joey - the script leaves us behind locked doors with no key to get inside. Albert is without a doubt the film's most fun character to watch, as he prances around the screen driving recklessly, drinking whiskey, and even creating a brawl in a local pub. When he is not on the screen, Crackers searches desperately for other gags to use, and ends up resorting to ridiculous situations including barbecuing a dog and creating an offbeat affair between two family members.
The screenplay is confused and flirts between genre to genre, consequently being funny without being entirely a comedy, and dramatic without being entirely a drama. Whether or not that is good or bad is not entirely relevant, because director David Swann has made sure that, although sometimes at sparse occasions, there is a laugh included for most audiences. I guess that's the difference between The Castle and Crackers - The Castle stuck to the same hilarious style of gags, but Crackers tries to suit too many people and ends up losing out in the end. At times, we can laugh ourselves silly in recognition that we have experienced something that the characters are doing, and at other times we shake our heads in disbelief, amazed at how sick the jokes are.
Swann seems to have had lots of fun in creating this loose, extraordinary comedy. Both the film and its characters appear so offbeat that it's perhaps reasonable to dub them as a weird, distorted family portrayed in a weird, distorted film.
Enjoyable at many occasions but far too loose and inconsistent, Crackers may be able to wrestle with the big guys, but it's likely to be pinned down for its obvious flaws, and no doubt will be beaten by more satisfying ventures.
----------------------------------- Review © copyright Luke Buckmaster
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