The Extra

I had heard bad reviews for this gem (such as the comment prior to mine), so went into the cinema with low expectations. But, not only did this movie have me laughing out loud regularly throughout, I also found the "average bloke with stars in his eyes" romance quite charming.

Just goes to show how bi-polar opinions can be - because I didn't think much of Jimeon's other movie, The Craic, and yet from what I've heard, public opinion is the other way around.

I know that my 2 friends in the cinema with me liked it at least as much as me, if not more, and we weren't the only ones laughing in the audience that night.

I thought the supporting roles played by a variety of recognizable Australian faces were great, and no, Jimeon's acting isn't Oscar winning, but it was certainly believable enough that I didn't spend any time dwelling on it.

If you like Jimeon, you will definitely enjoy this movie. If you're not adverse to Australian comedy, you should see this movie. I considered my $15 money well spent.

I'm a big Jimeoin fan. Huge. But I think i've realised I only like his stand-up work. His first movie "The Craic" was terrible, and this may be worse. I don't understand how he wrote this, the same guy who writes his stand-up routine, yet the movie is so poor. I didn't laugh once. I went "ha" in one scene. Bob Franklin, Colin Lane and Shaun Micallef were totally wasted.

The movie is about a movie extra who wants to get a starring role so he can become a big star, become famous and become important. Problem is is that he's a terrible actor and has lots of bad luck. Does he realise his dream? I'd say "you have to see the movie" but I don't want you to get mad at me for wasting a couple of bucks hiring the DVD.

I admire him for giving the comedy movie a go, history shows Aussie's have been terrible at making comedies ("The Castle" is excused), but maybe stick to the gags Jimeoin.

(I gave the movie a 1 for the fact it was shot in Melbourne and had some good shots)

Jimeoin is a nameless actor who finds himself as the eternal extra… never to play a principle role in a movie. He finds himself caught up with a group of would-be stars all trying to gain a break but none of them are able to do so.

I was ready for a good comedy, but was bitterly disappointed. Jimeoin is a great comedian but this smacked of 'try hard' and it just failed. There were a few moments where I laughed out aloud and I recognised several moments of clever humour, but it wasn't enough. I enjoyed spotting the good familiar Aussie actors and scenes around Melbourne. I think you should spend your money seeing something else...

This production was sued due to his plagiarism. He stole the idea from the Darren Ashton directed short film THE EXTRA. He was in fact encouraged by Village Roadshow at the time to collaborate with Ashton but he deftly just pinched an original idea and nicked it. Why would you watch a stand-up who plagiarises others' good work and denies the originator their dues ? All creative people work hard and to have some half unfunny twit think he can steal others' ideas is anathema. Skip this and skip all his work. Sneaky sneaky little Plagiarist. You'd do well to pass this on for perpetuity. Mind you he's not as bad as Gervais.

Sometimes when you watch something after reading a bad review for it, you've already braced yourself to hate it from the start and will never give it a fair chance. The Extra is one film I'm glad I pulled off a shelf at Blockbuster without prior recommendation, and I was later shocked at reading some of the scathing reviews it has gotten.

There's some good slapstick in The Extra, but I found the characters to be the most endearing bit about the film. I'm not familiar with Jimeoin's stand-up work , but I thought he and the cast did some pretty good caricatured performances. Jimeoin's character is amusing in his earnestness and haplessness, cheesy at times but intentionally so. The script is rather simple (has a couple of ironic twists and inside jokes, though) but has some nice parody, and is pulled off effectively by the cast of comedians each doing their thing. It's also nice to see a comedy these days that doesn't need to rely on explosive diarrhoea or sticking bodily appendages in apple pie to be funny.

For Melbournians there's some nice shots of familiar spots of the city, though it was actually quite funny (to me anyway) the way they seemed to romanticise it (Starry night skies, panhandlers making merry, kids laughing and playing football in the inner city alleys? It's like Baz Luhrman wrote this bit).

Though not very meaty and relying on a quieter sense of humour that might not be everyone's cup of tea, The Extra is definitely worth a watch. At best it's a clever comedy with quirky individual performances by a fine group of Australian comedians, at worst it's still a nice underdog's tale with some fun being poked at the film industry. Certainly worth a rental at the very least.