Film No. 85 (2024) December 21st. 7.40 PM Entertainment Space, Milton St. Mt Hawthorn, Perth W.A.
"It's easy to get sucked into a lot of shit in here. At some point you'll realise you want to have a life." (Noel cleans Joe's wound and suggests to him that life is a lot easier in gaol if one keeps their head down).
NOMINEE: Best Film (Nick Waterman) Australian A.C.T. Awards (2024).
Should a critic be harsh on a film for being too earnest, when indeed the ballad it was based on is precisely that? No, I think not. HOW TO MAKE GRAVY(HTMG) is a bonza addition to the sack of Christmas melodramas!
Much loved Australian musical poet Paul Kelly (look for his cameo) wrote the song HTMG in 1996. It has become our country's Christmas anthem in many quarters. Now we can sit in our living rooms (Binge/Fox) and contemplate the bad choices Joe (Daniel Henshall) made which landed him in gaol when he should have been at home, making his traditional Christmas gravy for his family. His family can grate on each other. And you guessed it, depending on his mood, he can be hot headed. It's why he's in gaol. Will this mean a time for thought and repair? Will a fairy "godfather figure" (Hugo Weaving) take him under his wing and make him see the error of his ways? You likely know the answers.
This was the sort of film I know I would have loved between the ages of 8 and 13. I like it now. The cast is a rollcall of Aussie icons. Like the recipe for Joe's gravy, they blend beautifully. The script - well, it just needed some spice! 8GUMS.
No comments:
Post a Comment