No. 103 (2018) Book Week Nov 19th.

Film No 102 (2018) Nov. 19th.  6:30 PM  LUNA PALACE Leederville . 

"It's also a sad time, as the mercurial Mr Cutler is finishing up with us at the end of the week." (The principal makes a morning announcement after another Cutler clanger unravels at school).

Young Australian film-maker Heath Davies gets inside the head of a frustrated author, come hugely inappropriate high school teacher, Nic Cutler (Alan Dukes). It's a comedy which has some funny moments, unfortunately it fails to live up to it's initial whimsical tone. I can't make up my mind if it is the fact that Cutler is so unlikable that I had no compassion for him, or that there are too many convenient, even lazy, plot diversions. The jokes get lamer and more inappropriate as the film progresses. The deal is, Cutler is told by his publisher that he has a week to improve as a person or there will be no book deal. The week is a disaster. The climax is not totally surprising, but the convenience of it all left me flat. Hats off to Davies for crowd funding an interesting, if not totally fulfilling comedy with a slightly irregular heart-beat. 7GUMS.