Death in Brunswick

There's an opening scene where Sam Neill's short-order cook hero has a fatal encounter with a tin can that anyone who's ever tried to sleep off a particularly nasty hangover can fully understand. If it makes you laugh, keep going. Chances are, you'll enjoy the whole movie. If you don't laugh, go back to "The Sound of Music"; this movie is not for you.

Neill is dead-on accurate as the epitome of every short-order cook that has ever been and his comic timing is brilliant. I picked this film up several years ago and Neill's role in it is still one of my favourites. Sure, he's slumming, but oh, how well he does it. You can just see how much fun he must have had with the role. If you are a Sam Neill fan, definitely give this one a try--if you can find it!

I enjoyed DIB and don't have much to add to the other positive reviews posted, however I just had to comment on the couple of reviews questioning whether it was a comedy. If you don't understand and enjoy BLACK comedy then don't watch a black comedy and expect to enjoy it! Surely the title should give you a pretty good clue as to whether you're going to like it or not. If you find the idea of death/grim subjects innately unfunny then switch off!

I find it tremendously sad, but not surprising, that there are so many people in the world who can't find something funny unless it's "clean" and "nice". What a loss for them. Oh well, all the more for the rest of us!

I've only just come across this movie for the first time and found it interesting in many ways. It's more of a straight drama than a comedy, though it does have moments of grim humour. It's not really a "black comedy", but is simply the story of one man (played by Sam Neill) and his constant struggle to maintain his self-respect and survive in his sordid surroundings. Brunswick is a working-class suburb of Melbourne, Australia, with a large migrant population, and this sometimes ambling/slow-moving film, captures some of the typical "feel" of the place. Quite a good movie; a bit different to the norm.

From the moment the film opens, depicting aluminium cans rolling ceaselessly (and noisily) in the wind, along with the elderly Greek ladies putting this year's Christmas trees into the wrecked Austin 1800 (stuffed next to previous year's Christmas trees), you know that this film is going to be a little different.

Melbourne, one of the most multi-cultural metropolis's in the world (should that be metropoli?) is the setting for this rather dark comedy drama. Carl, an unemployed and very much down on his luck chef, gets a job at a less than reputable nightclub in the Melbourne suburb of Brunswick. He falls in love with one of the Greek barmaids, much to the consternation of the owner of the bar who has been betrothed to the barmaid. Not helping matters much is a Turkish kitchen hand, who appears to want to spend more time trading in stolen goods and drugs than actually working as a kitchen hand.

When matters escalate out of hand, Carl needs the specialist help that only his friend, Dave can provide. If it can be said that a good friend will help you move (house), it's fair to say that only a true friend will help you move - a body, and as a gravedigger at the local cemetery Dave is in the ideal position to help "dispose" of one of Carl's kitchen disasters.

Along the way, Dave is pestered by his Feminist-rights movement wife who spends most of her on-screen time berating Dave for his pathetic life, while Carl spends his time being roughed up by the nightclub bouncer, roughed up by a Turkish crime syndicate, or, more worryingly, being berated and belittled by his mother.

A truly enjoyable Australian film from the early 1990's, though apparently not available in Australia - I had to get my copy from the UK, though fortunately the UK release is region free.

This is an interesting black comedy with Sam Neill doing a turn as a "34" (ah hem) year old short order cook, on a loosing streak. That is until he meets the woman of his meager dreams. I enjoyed this downunder flick because of it's unpredictability. It's brutal, but then a loser's life sometimes is. But Carl (Sam Neill) wanders through all of the chaos around him, teettering on this side of naive. Even when he does take initiative, he can't do it all himself. There are some great scenes - including a pizza I'd like to serve my ex-boss! It is slow in parts and not always cohesive, but worth sitting through. A slice of reality. Reminds me of a brother, 30something (ah hem)...