The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Blistering performances.

Oddball is, if a bit formulaic, well done and rewarding.The intertwined elements of family-love, nature's treasures and a heartwarming dog combine for our pleasure.The location of the story is one of magical beauty.The characters are well-drawn and believable. The fact that it's based on a true story makes it even more special.

The precept for this story was brilliant, the casting was predictable but the direction was just woefully short of the mark. This simple little story about a dog rescuing the day, became entwined in an impossibly unbelievable romance, all for the sake of an unlikeable single mum and her implausible relationship with a US Event Manager!? And somewhere at the end, an unknown hero presents himself inebriated but utterly devoid of any character or plot development as the not very well developed heroine's final love interest.All this at the expense of her daughter, a canine hero, an endangered species and a pathetic portrayal of an eccentric chicken farmer; (no offense Shane).Well, this is what happens when Australian government officers get involved in making feature films! Everything is about Tourism, isn't it?

A lovable based on a true story family movie that's partly filmed in one of the worlds most naturally beautiful locations and most livable cities (no bias here at all) in the form of regional Australian city Warrnambool, Oddball is a film that's enjoyable for the young and young at heart and one of the better Australian feel good stories in some time.A huge success at the local Australian box office in the later half of 2015, and in particular in the town of Warrnambool where Oddball played at the local cinema for 3 months, Oddball's the type of film even the biggest of movie grouches will have fun with despite its slight narrative and overacting from a talented cast.A dramatization of eccentric chicken farmer and genuine "oddball" Alan 'swampy' Marsh, Oddball sees one of Australia's great larrikin characters Shane Jacobson inhabit the overalls of the great bearded man who developed the ingenious idea of using Maremma sheep dogs to protect a local fairy penguin colony that had been decimated by pesky foxes.It's a unique scenario but not one that exactly makes for thrilling viewing and Oddball's major struggles come from trying to draw dramatic tension from a simple idea that just doesn't have the cinematic qualities of other such true tales. Well respected actors Sarah Snook (breakout star of Predestination), Alan Tudyk and even Australian comedy legend Frank Woodley all feel a little lost with some pretty lame supporting characters.Oddball flys on the back of Jacobson's work, young actress Coco Jack Gillies likability, the great locations and of course the lovable animals that make penguins and fluffy dogs even more adorable than one would've thought possible.A film that's appropriate for all ages and a tale that has appeal for animal lovers the world over, Oddball is a slight yet wholeheartedly enjoyable Australian film that's likely to become a new favourite of the youngest members of the family and an Australian film that holds a more universal appeal than the average homegrown movie.3 Great Ocean Road shots out of 5

Oddball is a confused political critique disguised as a mediocre Australian family film. It opens with spectacular overhead shots that sweep over the water and the cliff faces. But if it were not for the high production values and the quality of the cast, this would have been a direct to video film. The only interesting aspect of Stuart McDonald's film is its awkward transition between two conflicting political messages. Oddball is primarily driven by a left-leaning environmental green message about protecting endangered animals and remaining highly critical of bureaucracy, red tape and American intervention. Simultaneously, the film is old fashioned in dramatising the techniques of environmental preservation and the way it mirrors American movies should be deemed politically conservative, with the retention of the family unit a chief concern of the narrative and its characters.The film is based on the real story of Allan 'Swampy' Marsh, who saved a colony of endangered fairy penguins by protecting them with a Maremma Sheepdog. In the film, Allan is played by Shane Jacobson (Kenny), who has lost is wife but is happily working as a chicken farmer in Warrnambool, a Victorian coastal town. His daughter Emily (Sarah Snook) is working as a conservationist and must preserve up to ten penguins or else their sanctuary will be lost. Emily is not only a single mother to Olivia (Coco Jack Gillies), but also dating Bradley Slater (Alan Tudyk), an American who becomes involved in a development plan that could overtake the penguin habitat. Simultaneously, Allan and his granddaughter are worried about losing their dog Oddball, who is in the eye of the local dog catcher (Frank Woodley), after he is deemed by the local council to be on his last warning if he causes anymore disruptions in the town. Allan and Olivia realise Oddball still has one useful purpose: he is able to protect the penguins from the foxes at night but they decide to keep this a secret from Emily, who doesn't want any further interference.Oddball's major thematic goal is about challenging the establishment. In the film, the rulings of local government, laws and enterprise threaten to dissolve the Australian family by creating a domino effect over multiple aspects of society. The loss of Oddball, the free spirit and a symbol of a rural-style of protection, would mean losing the sanctuary and consequently Emily, who warns her father its one of the few things keeping her within the town. Meanwhile, her partner Bradley isn't an outright villain but characterised unsympathetically as an ugly caricature of shallow, consumerist American culture, who tries winning Olivia's love with expensive gifts. By accidentally disrupting the penguin's home with an overlapping development plan, he represents how modernity and business trample contemporary green values and families. His suggestion that Emily and her daughter move to New York, which is met with reluctance, typifies the film's strange antagonism to modern life in favour of traditional values and small town favouritism. Despite keeping his granddaughter away from school an alarming number of times, Allan personifies traditionalism. This simple chicken farmer is best summarised by a scene in which he gate crashes Bradley's date with Emily in a fine dining restraurant, dramatising his resistance to modern life and the upper class. While content to share thematic parallels to Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood (2007), like the resistance to modernity and land ownership,Oddball's contradicting political trajectory is typified by awkwardly juggling these dual political goals: a contemporary green and progressive message about the environment, on top of a conservative view of retaining the family unit by dismissing exciting new life experiences, such as travelling and re-establishment.These political and social aims were perhaps lost on the small children at the screening, some of whom grew visibly restless. The political ambitions aren't matched by lasting comedy because it's simply not as funny as one would hope and arguably too talkative for young children. Despite incorporating slapstick humour, a middling family drama, a minor mystery and those arching political goals, it's overly predictable and lightweight. Its greatest crime is throwing the potential of its cast into the wind. Shane Jacobson's Allan is not a fully realised character but a half-written comedy sketch that supplies the occasionally light quip or humorous remark and Sarah Snook's role doesn't stretch her talents as far as we have seen recently. Ultimately, it's the underdeveloped side roles which are most disappointing. Woodley is a hilarious comedian whose comic touch is never used and Debra Mailman doesn't feature anywhere near enough in her meager role as the town's mayor. The character Bradley Slater is a painfully obvious and grating caricature, whose relationship arc is clumsily resolved in the film's closing moments. While determined to tear down the establishment in favour of contemporary ideas and progress values, Oddball mirrors the shape of the Australian film industry itself. Its modern political trajectory is contained by conservative ideological goals that subdue its progressive aims. Along with its predictable, forgettable narrative and its failure to settle on one particular style, the adults in the audience had the right to be as fidgety as the kids.