A Man's Gotta Do

I stumbled on this film accidentally after it had started, so there may have been some running points that I'd missed during the run of the movie. The film felt to me like a feature length sketch comedy show. The storyline is shown to us in intersecting segments, like a sequence of anecdotes, each with their own amusing or heartwarming finale. Most importantly though, there are enough characters and side plots to keep it from getting too stale.

The writing and acting (especially John Howard's) is all well done and had me laughing out loud many times throughout the show. So in my mind, it does rate high. Personally, I think it could have benefited if the story was told a bit smoother, rather than the usual CutToTheNextScene without having to build a brand new joke out of it.

Enjoyed this one very much, witty and well-executed screenplay with terrific performances and a gentle undercurrent of humor throughout. John Howard was amazing as Eddy, the dad, and Alyssa Mclelland was pitch perfect as his gorgeous daughter with the voice of an angel. I am not sure why some find this movie to be less than wonderful, but I enjoyed it immensely from the first moment I laid eyes on it. It is satirical, yet evokes genuine emotion; it is very laid back, yet kept me on the edge of my seat as the plot twisted up in a knot and then unraveled (almost) before kinking up again. The fortune teller was a key plot device and the script ran a fine line between nearly serious and tongue-in-cheek in those scenes. Are all housewives in Oz as suggestible as Rebecca Frith's Yvonne? No matter, she was lovely and seductive. Gyton Grantley as Dominic wins you over from the first, too. I'd enjoy seeing all of these actors again.

I thought this movie was excellent. John Howard was awesome in his role, he had the Aussie bloke role down pat, I was in stitches!

The daughter had the quirky thing going' well, I didn't really like the mother in the movie, her acting was good, just an annoying character.

I'm trying to find out if a soundtrack was released for this movie, Some of the songs the daughter was singing in the movie were really touching, geez I'm soppy!

Seriously though, don't know why people have given this such a low rating, the plot was funny - not mind boggling - there were loads of laughs, would watch it many times over.

Another Aussie must see film

The movie is about a fish monger / stand-over man, Eddy (John Howard). He has to get passed several problems with himself and his family life within the movie, including - his daughters wedding, his vasectomy and his car being smashed. A question that i asked myself, throughout the movie was "Is Eddy good or bad?" People could debate over this topics until the cows come home. But i believe that Eddy is a good man at heart, even though some of the things he does and the ways he does them, are not so good. But his intentions are good and his heart is in the right place. The movie is exactly what i expected to get from a good Aussie comedy, that is Aussie slang, typical stereotypes and non stop humor.

I didn't expect much, but was very pleasantly surprised. Sharp writing, terrific performances, good production values and a lot of laughs. Great to see Australians not pretending to be Americans. The director obviously has great affection for his characters and we come to share it. John Howard's reliably good (though his hilarious imitation of a cockatoo is an unexpected bonus) but the surprises are the two young people, playing Chantelle and Dominic. They are both great and we will no doubt see much more of them. Also the songs Chantelle sings are funny and spot on. I wonder if you can buy them? As long as you're not expecting car-crashes, handsome Americans who can't act or subtitles you'll love this film!