Sadly Over-hyped

People are voting emotionally.

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

I must confess, I gave this movie a miss when it was released, so I gave in and finally checked it out. I am a big fan of John Clarke and Sam Neil, so I thought it would be pretty good. To be honest, I just could not get comfortable with this movie, the story is a mish-mash of situations that, at times, lack a lot in creditability. The movie is a black comedy one minute and a tense drama the next. There is one scene, set it in a church, that was ridiculous and helped destroy whatever realism the story was trying to convey. (it involved a shaft of light). Sam Neil's character was so inept, that I grew to dislike him fairly quickly... and I'm sure that was the way the character was supposed to be viewed, but I all wanted to see was for someone to knock the tar out of him. The snide racial overtones in the story will put you on edge at times. The few scenes that John Clarke was in was the only thing that kept me interested. It is a poor man's Quentin Tarantino style of movie. Not really my cup of tea.

Great film. I worked with John a few years back on a short film that never got made. We had a great time and I really wish my movie went further. He was a great director to work with, had some odd ideas, but hey, that's awesome, and Death in Brunswick was a great Australian film. I reckon you , JOHN, should go all out and make that ideal dream film. The one with all your crazy, whacked out ideas. Like the one with the kids that buried their principle under the oval. That was seriously cool. Cant wait to see some more Ruane films. Hope you're still at it John. You kicked butt back then and I'm sure you still can. Well I'm running out of lines cause this thing says I need ten lines to submit it. OK I think that's enough.TySe

Funny how two Kiwis (John Clarke & Sam Neill) have made one of the best and most keenly observed films ever made about the inner suburbs of Melbourne and sad how the only reviewers who couldn't appreciate its humour came from the southern states of the USA. Perhaps the humour came out of references that were a little too specific for people who haven't experienced post second war Melbourne and the effect that the large influx of southern European migrants had on both the city and the migrants themselves over the second half of the twentieth century. John Clarke, who another reviewer rightly said could be funny reading a phone book, steals the movie as the laconic friend of Sam Neill, the weak but likable hero of the story. Clarke played a significant part in the writing of the movie, which has a much lighter touch than the book upon which it its based, and his character gets many of the best lines. Sam Neill is terrific as the hapless hero of the piece, Ms Carides has an appeal that no "thirty something" male could resist, and the supporting characters including "Cookie's" domineering mother, Sophies' fearsome father, Clarke's no-nonsense wife, the club's sleazy owner and his dopey flunkies, and the drug dealing Turk and his associates are all just flawless. There may be parts of the world that contain people sufficiently insular to not appreciate this movie's humour or the way it shows a weak man dealing with and coming to terms with the forces that have oppressed him and one can but feel sorry for them. For the rest of us its a both a movie to bring a wry smile to our faces and a warning against eating crunchy pizzas.

There's an opening scene where Sam Neill's short-order cook hero has a fatal encounter with a tin can that anyone who's ever tried to sleep off a particularly nasty hangover can fully understand. If it makes you laugh, keep going. Chances are, you'll enjoy the whole movie. If you don't laugh, go back to "The Sound of Music"; this movie is not for you.Neill is dead-on accurate as the epitome of every short-order cook that has ever been and his comic timing is brilliant. I picked this film up several years ago and Neill's role in it is still one of my favourites. Sure, he's slumming, but oh, how well he does it. You can just see how much fun he must have had with the role. If you are a Sam Neill fan, definitely give this one a try--if you can find it!