ALL MEN ARE LIARS
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 1997 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ***
The Australians have a knack for screwball comedies that are actually funny. American filmmakers too often confuse humor with bad taste. Writer and director Gerard Lee's 1995 film ALL MEN ARE LIARS was a box office sensation in Australia. It is being shown now at film festivals in the US in hopes of finding a US distributor. I saw it at San Jose's Cinequest film festival.
Since I said it was an Australian comedy, you might leap to the conclusion that the film was about cross-dressing. If you did, you'd be right. Although it shares a kinship with THE ADVENTURES OF PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT, it is closer in plot to SOME LIKE IT HOT and TWELFTH NIGHT and closer in spirit to MURIEL'S WEDDING.
ALL MEN ARE LIARS is funny, sweet, and romantic. I'll outline the main action, but there are more subplots than you can count. You are likely to leave the show arguing with your friends about what part was the best. Let me state my opinion upfront. The love story between the two leads is the most endearing. Both are wonderful actors, and they make it is easy for the audience to live their romance vicariously.
It is Sugar Week in a small-town in the middle of nowhere in Australia. Barry (John Jarratt), his older son Mick (David Price) and his younger son Tom (Jamie Peterson) sing every week at the local pub. Barry is the town barber and an Elvis wannabe, but don't call him an impersonator or you might get into a fight. He worships Elvis. He explains that he is an Elvis imitator and that he hates impersonators. Jarratt has one of the best parts of the film and manages to steal most of the scenes he is in.
Barry's wife Irene (Carmen Tanti) has had it with Barry after he sells her piano. It is a family heirloom of hers, and if the piano goes, she goes too. Other than the delicious in-joke about the piano, Irene's whole part only serves to slow down the action and should have been eliminated. (Gerard Lee is a friend and collaborator of director Jane Campion, and they wrote the script together for SWEETIE. Campion's signature film is THE PIANO, so having a piano play a promenade role in Lee's picture was no accident. Lee has an unprintable comment in the press kit for ALL MEN ARE LIARS about what he does to the piano in the movie.)
The locals have long since become bored with Barry's singing, so they book an outside, all-female group for the big celebration week. Soon after they arrive, the band's lead singer, Angie (Toni Pearen), finds out that her boyfriend Rick (Cristin Daniel), the band's groupie, has been having an affair with another band member, Jo (Yvette Konig). The band's leader and drummer, Courtney (Natasha Riedel), banishes Jo and Rick. Courtney is a lesbian, who never trusted men anyway. Soon the whole band swears off men since all men are liars.
Courtney advertises for a woman to replace Jo. Brother Tom convinces Mick to become Michelle, and the fun begins.
You can probably guess the basic structure of the rest of the story, but the beauty is in the details. The story has surprise after surprise. Most of them are small but delightful, with the best little scene dominated by Larry, the boys' pet lizard. The moral of this vignette is don't take a lizard on a date.
David Price is terrific as Michelle. He plays Michelle as believably and naturally shy. When Michelle starts falling for Angie, Angie reciprocates even though she has never been attracted to a woman before. Their romance is delightful and innocent -- from the classic scene where they almost skinny-dip to the one of Michelle changing clothes off-screen. Both of the leads are lovable, and the script has just enough poignancy in it to make you care and worry about them.
There are some fun musical numbers too. Toni Pearen is a popular singer in Australia, and I liked her naturalness much better than the constant mugging for the camera that was prevalent in a recent all-musical movie that I endured. My favorite musical number in the film has Angie and Barry lip-syncing in his barber shop using electric clippers as imaginary mikes.
The script is smart and upbeat. It works more by its character development and its joke setups than by its one-liners. Still, I remember the line of the local stud. He makes unwelcome advances on Michelle and then realizes that she is a he. The stud's pathetic cry is, "If I need therapy for this, you're paying for it."
A show with a great ending, and one that leaves a song in your heart and a contagious feeling of joy.
ALL MEN ARE LIARS runs a fast 1:27. In Australia it was rated PG, but has not been rated by our MPAA. I suspect it will get a PG or a PG-13 rating. There is a brief shot of rear male nudity, and I think there may have been a little profanity that I forgot to record in my notes. The show should be fine for kids ten and up. I loved this little gem and recommend it to you. I hope and expect they will get an American distributor soon. I give the film ***.
**** = A must see film. *** = Excellent show. Look for it. ** = Average movie. Kind of enjoyable. * = Poor show. Don't waste your money. 0 = Totally and painfully unbearable picture.
REVIEW WRITTEN ON: January 31, 1997
Opinions expressed are mine and not meant to reflect my employer's.
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