Karry Best movie of this year hands down!

AniInterview Sorry, this movie sucks

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Marco Trevisiol WARNING: Contains Spoilers I managed to watch Mick Molloy's film on DVD for the first time a while back. For those who don't know it's about a call centre worker (Molloy) who gets hooked up into the world of Lawn Bowls after the club finds out he's been a member of their club for several years just so he could profit from the inner-city parking space at the club.I'd seen this film before on tape a few months back and on repeated viewings, it holds up quite well. It's never hilarious but it does have some amusing and memorable scenes.My favourite is the team meeting in the call centre because it's based on truth. Anyone who's worked in an office environment can relate to the pretentiousness of the supervisor who rates each of the calls the workers up to the decimal point (e.g. 85.17%). It also illustrates the alienating nature of these places very well.But there are some significant weaknesses in this film - the romance between Molloy and Judith Lucy's character is a complete bust - formulaic and routine in the extreme. There is no chemistry between the two (heaven forbid) and just seems to be put in there because the filmmakers felt it "obligatory" to have a love interest. When they do kiss at the end of the film it almost seems like a spoof of films that have the female and male lead kiss during the happy ending.And Molloy's acting performance is a mixed bag - on one of the commentary tracks he wasn't originally intended to be the lead in the film. Perhaps it would've been better if he hadn't have been. He's good when it comes to some of the comic aspects of the film (especially the team meeting scene), but is unconvincing during the dramatic scenes in the film - acting like he's in a Late Show sketch instead of a proper character.The plot line and trajectory for this film is predictable from an early stage - I've seen this innumerable times before in run-of-the-mill Hollywood productions. It was so obvious that the entire film would end with the club's future resting on the final bowl of the tournament and Molloy having the chance to win the championship... can you guess whether he wins it or not? And the way the elderly members of the club is also a mixed bag - in certain scenes the film tries to make them into real flesh-and-blood characters, in others they go for easy laughs by relying on stereotypes of old people (really slow drivers, pedantic, prejudiced against younger people). All in all, the film treats them pretty well and people like Bill Hunter are given the chance to deliver fine performances.John Clarke's performance as the bad guy looking to take over the club for his own purposes is a definite plus. I think the reason why it's so good is said by the director in the commentary - because he underplays a role which could easily have turned into a vicious, snarling thug. Clarke avoids the obvious path and as result comes up with a sophisticated, impressive performance.I think the film's best strength is the comments and observations it makes on society today. It shows the appeal of the friendly, sociable atmosphere of Molloy's bowls club compared to the pokies infested, garishly designed structure of the upmarket Boggara bowls club where the finale is held.I especially liked how talkback radio was inserted (usually as a link between scenes) where inane talkback callers spiel all their prejudices against the usual suspects (refugees, the unions while the shock-jock radio announcer unsurprisingly agrees were put into the film.) However, a lot of these social issues brought up are cast aside due to the obligatory 'happy ending. I mean, what if Molloy hadn't managed to win the match with his final 'flipper' and win the title and, hence, save the club? It would've meant that the Clarke would've got his wishes and the club would've been taken over into a pokies venue (or closed down).As for the DVD itself, it has many features. The most noticeable feature was that there were two commentary tracks on the DVD. One featured Molloy and his brother (co-writer) as well as Judith Lucy; at first the Molloys provide some interesting insights into the ideas of the film, but then it becomes like a Martin/Molloy show in the 2nd half which is often amusing but the film is barely discussed. But that doesn't matter as the 2nd commentary (with the director and others) discusses the film in substantial detail. So they complement each other well.And then there are 5 deleted scenes (with commentary) and probably two of them could've been kept in the film. Thankfully, the segment with Prince Phillip's hat wasn't.And they also have the original theatrical trailer for the film, which actually made the film less appealing then what it actually was.All in all, this isn't a bad film, notable as being virtually the only Australian film in the last 18 months to gain any significant response from the Australian public.But one hopes Molloy sets his sights higher for his next script.

big_poppa_hnoudis **WARNING** CONTAINS SPOILERS!A few friends and I went to go see the Mick M movie, and i was very disappointed in the attempts of humour displayed on the screen. I can say with a straight face that i did NOT laugh once in this movie, apart from when my friend dropped his coke all over his pants in the cinema. If your deciding on what to do with your $8-$10 spend it on something like food, at least it doesn't leave a empty void after your through.Don't get me wrong, its not Mick as an actor, i loved him on his radio show in Adelaide, his TV show (along with the whole D-Generation) on the ABC and several of his other projects, but "Crackerjack" just didn't have...whats that word??--Oh yeah! Comedy. Completely deprived on jokes, and when you skim the plot you can see why its not funny. A guy entering a lawn bowls tournament, missing cheese and a bunch of old people not liking a rebellious Mick...My sides are splitting as I'm typing this.In closing, "Crackerjack" should be renamed to "Mick was on the Crack, Jack" 2.0 out of 10

Spleen It was while watching coverage of the 1990 Commonwealth Games that I realised: lawn bowls is not just one of the few sports that isn't unbearably tedious to sit down and watch, it's positively tense and exciting; minute for minute, probably more so than any other sport.Am I disappointed, then, that we see so little lawn bowls footage in "Crackerjack", and we never get even an overview of a complete game? Not at all. Lawn bowls isn't really cinematic in that way; unlike a game of cricket or chess, a game of lawn bowls has little in the way of narrative structure. It's shot-by-shot skill, and that's what the camera in "Crackerjack" concentrates on. We aren't even told the rules of the game, apart from what we need to know to understand individual shots. What we see of the game is still nail-biting, and it's still enough to make me wonder why I taken up the game myself in the past thirteen years.A decade ago I thought of Mick Molloy as the Ringo Starr of the D-Generation comics - or failing Molloy, I thought of Judith Lucy in that role. Yet here they both are in a comedy far more assured than either "The Castle" or "The Dish"; better in every respect, in fact: wittier, much funnier, better structured, in the end more heartwarming, and with more bite. The swipe at poker machines is motivated by real anger - as it should be, since you could probably crowd every single citizen of Australia, who honestly believes that poker machines are a good thing, into the one garage, yet for dubious economic reasons which surely can't REALLY persuade anyone the machines are allowed to invade anyway.The basic premise of "Crackerjack" is all too common in reality. A lawn bowls club has stood solid for decades, is still in use, still benefits people, still has all the equipment and staff it needs, cannot in any obvious way be changed for the better and is of more value than what would replace it if it were to disappear. Yet someone comes along to tell its members that they can no longer "afford" to keep the club the way it is. Can anyone take this seriously? Nobody in THIS film, thank goodness.

scotti2hotti When I saw the trailer for Crackerjack, I thought this film was going to be an absolute shocker. How wrong was I? This is such an exquisite piece of Australiana. It's as if a time capsule was dug up from a bygone era and inside was this film. The true stars of Crackerjack are not Mick Malloy or Judith Lucy but a cavalcade of veteran Australian actors, brought back to cinematic life. A bit like Wim Wenders bringing back to life the ageing musicians of the Buena Vista Social Club. Where the comedy of 'The Nugget' failed to deliver, 'Crackerjack' more than succeeds. "Can I fix you a Radox bath champ?" This is just one dialogue related example of how engagingly Australian this film is. And you have to love the modern technology that is 'Bowl-cam'. The sound of the ball cutting through the manicured lawn and the camera following every movement of the ball is truly hypnotic.'Crackerjack' is not aimed at mocking the ways of the elderly. Lawn bowls is more than sport. It's about friendships, a sense of community and values that now have probably escaped modern day society. It's also about tomato sandwiches, beer at genuine 1976 prices and helping yourself to the wheel of cheese! 'Crackerjack' takes aim at big business, which is squeezing out smaller clubs with the introduction of poker machines and the social and financial impact it's having on the elderly. There are so many things to be gained from seeing this film. Jack highly recommended!