Love Serenade
[3.5/4.0]
Life in the country can be slow and uneventful. For sisters Vicki-Ann and Dimity, who live by themselves in rural Australia, their time is spent at their jobs in a beauty salon and Chinese restaurant, and fishing. When an unsuccessful disc jockey from a larger town, Ken Sherry, moves next door, Vicki-Ann sees a potential husband in the small town's new celebrity. However, the emotionally withdrawn Dimity also takes an interest in him and becomes her sister's rival. The dour, unexpressive, Ken Sherry is often speaking philosophically about love, and has no problem with being involved with both sisters simultaneously.
It appeared to me initially that this film was marketed (in previews) as a romantic comedy. Since that is a genre that I do not like, I had very low expectations for the film, which may be a factor in explaining why I enjoyed it so much. This film is really a comedy which explores the interaction of several quirky characters. Although his screen time is limited, Dimity's boss and proprietor of the restaurant, Albert Lee, is hilarious. A small amount of magical realism is introduced in the recurring subtext of fish, and its limited appearance is just enough to be amusing without being distracting. The title is a reference to a song by Barry White, and it is important to know who he is to fully appreciate the film. White was popular in the 1970's and in his low, smooth voice he sang songs about making love, which were often cheesy rather than romantic. White's songs are the favorite of Ken Sherry and are played throughout the soundtrack. It becomes apparent that Ken Sherry's views on love are limited to only the sentiments reflected in Barry White songs.
Highly Recommended. This is quite an enjoyable, quirky film.
(c) 1999 Murali Krishnan The Art House Squatter http://pages.hotbot.com/movies/murali24/
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