**May Contain Spoilers**
Rob Sitch and the Working Dog team's 1997 comedy is a quaint little film with a few universal truths we can all see the merits of. Confronted with the prospect of a compulsory acquistion by a trans national air consortium, a middle aged family man named Darryl Kerrigan (played with an amazing verve by Michael Caton), fights the decision by rallying family and neighbours and going to court to do battle with the giant corporation. Following a 'David versus Goliath' type battle, the Kerrigans emerge as the new heroes of the Australian working class. Sitch and co. have created a film that, with the 'right' sense of humour, works on many levels. The script, filled with many quotable gems, many are actually Australian idioms not used by the majority of Aussies but have since been embraced in this re-birth of lost Australian culture, is continually funny and even delves into serious issues facing both the Kerrigan family and Australia in general (for example, displacement, national identity and the Mabo decision). Sitch and his co-writers don't really go for the jugular in their particular brand of humour, rather just amusing in a simple and traditional way, which is a welcome relief from the glut of gross-out flicks that have been produced in the last decade, especially. The performances from the entire cast is excellent and befits the film's quirky nature. The female characters are given quite marginalised roles, yet this doesn't detract from the overall characterisations. With many laughs to be found in this little Aussie gem, it's well worth the time. (Just do NOT watch it with expectations of 'high-art' - it's not pretentious in the slightest.) Recommended.
Rob Sitch and the Working Dog team's 1997 comedy is a quaint little film with a few universal truths we can all see the merits of. Confronted with the prospect of a compulsory acquistion by a trans national air consortium, a middle aged family man named Darryl Kerrigan (played with an amazing verve by Michael Caton), fights the decision by rallying family and neighbours and going to court to do battle with the giant corporation. Following a 'David versus Goliath' type battle, the Kerrigans emerge as the new heroes of the Australian working class. Sitch and co. have created a film that, with the 'right' sense of humour, works on many levels. The script, filled with many quotable gems, many are actually Australian idioms not used by the majority of Aussies but have since been embraced in this re-birth of lost Australian culture, is continually funny and even delves into serious issues facing both the Kerrigan family and Australia in general (for example, displacement, national identity and the Mabo decision). Sitch and his co-writers don't really go for the jugular in their particular brand of humour, rather just amusing in a simple and traditional way, which is a welcome relief from the glut of gross-out flicks that have been produced in the last decade, especially. The performances from the entire cast is excellent and befits the film's quirky nature. The female characters are given quite marginalised roles, yet this doesn't detract from the overall characterisations. With many laughs to be found in this little Aussie gem, it's well worth the time. (Just do NOT watch it with expectations of 'high-art' - it's not pretentious in the slightest.) Recommended.