RedRoadster

I watched both series of Troppo through to the end and for the most part I enjoyed it a lot. Both the lead characters have shattered pasts and find in each other someone equally as broken and as desperate for a reckoning that restores some degree of sanity to their lives.

Thomas Jane and Nicole Chamoun must take the prize for the most unusual "buddy-buddy" PI's put on screen. Series 1 burns very slowly as they investigate a missing persons case that evolves into a corporate conspiracy and who-dunnit. Something of themselves is revealed periodically along the way and the final episode eye opener of what truly happened is quite unexpected and if not a total surprise, is effectively disturbing.

Series 2 is more concerned with Thomas Jane's characters story arc which continues to unravel along with further deaths, investigations and character development. Again the final episode wraps things up nicely and we get to see a full resolution of the facts and the mystery solved.

I thought that the 8 episodes at almost 1 hour long per series made the plot a bit padded out and it definitely could have benefited from sharper editing and a tighter script. The whole cast were competent and nicely under stated, which only enhanced the overall theme of them all being unhinged in some way. For me, David Lyons stands out in season 1 as the burnt out Detective who conveys that what he shows is only about 10% of what is going on in his traumatized mind.

A competent piece of Australian drama that throws us plenty of Red Herrings and uses its bleak and vast filming locations to enhance the emptiness and partial redemption of its talented cast of characters.

If you remember going out with your friends and playing sport, having a few beers and someone saying: "Have you seen Jackass on MTV ? Its hilarious ! ... Snub out your cigarettes, come back to my place (My folks wont mind) and watch it, its on in half an hour ! ...) Then youre obviously as old as me.

This entry, which I hope is the last, in the film series just feels like over the hill guys squeezing another paycheck. Nothing new or original, just mostly blunt force trauma to various scrotums (which activates cancer by the way) and is a million miles away from the 90's craziness which we all knew and loved.

Guys and Gals, we thank you for mirroring a time in our lives when we were all insane, but now its time to give it up and get that job at the supermarket or draw your pension. Adios.