Movie Review by EDF
Starring: Ben Lee, Rose Byrne, Miranda Richardson, Garry West
Director: Tony McNamara
Have you ever regretted not saying or doing something when given the opportunity? Placid Lake (Ben Lee), who is about to graduate from school, goes a little too far when his back is up against the wall. He uses his intelligence as a defence mechanism by telling the truth to those he thinks need it. He proves his point by switching his winning upbeat video film about school life with one that shows what everyone around him is actually like. This bold move leads to Placid being laid up in hospital with every bone in his body broken.
Realising the error of his ways, he decides to reinvent himself and finds work at an insurance company. He tries to develop a proper relationship with his childhood friend Gemma, (Rose Byrne) who is just not interested in sleeping with Placid. In fact, Gemma finds Placid’s attempt in acting normal as just plain weird and plans to leave him to go to university. Placid’s hippy parents believe that Placid had been brainwashed while in hospital and attempt to de-program him. Placid realises that he should become all things to all people but how long can he keep up this charade?
This quirky Australian comedy tries to show two sides of how parents attention or the lack of it can effect their children. It is a brave attempt from writer and director Tony McNamara to write an intelligent satire of sorts about parenting and the business world. No matter how strange Placid and Gemma try to be, they both eventually realise that everyone around them are not playing with a full deck of cards. At times, the movie is thought provoking but anyone who thinks that this is an all out comedy will be disappointed.
