Stiff

An amusing and entertaining TV-movie, "Stiff" showcases David Wenham as Murray Whelan, political fixer and amateur investigator.

It made me laugh with its combination of in-jokes, political cameos, and physical humour: in this respect, the translation from the page to the screen allowed the telemovie to become the superior story - however, the detail of the book was obviously missing in the adaption.

Finally, Wenham came across as a cross between his characters Jim Doyle ("The Bank") and Johnny Spitieri ("Gettin' Square"): Knowledgeable but also slightly sloppy and tired. The supporting cast did a great job, as did John Clarke on the story adaption.

All up, Three and a Half out of Five.

The real star of this entertaining and fast-moving comedy thriller is writer-director's John Clarke's droll and economic screenplay. The film displays all of John Clarke's dry wit and pithy wordplay, well delivered by David Wenham, as the self-effacing and increasingly embattled Whelan, as well as Julian O'Donnell as his son, and Deborah Kennedy as his long-suffering co-worker, as well as by a host of hilarious minor characters.

The film looks at the lives of all the little people that inhabit this ethnically-mixed area of Melbourne, as well as all the political, business and criminal deals that operate just under the surface of society.

Though the plot is a bit too hastily explained at times, the film contains the right mix of comedy and tension. This film sees both John Clarke and David Wenham doing what they do best.

After this Wenham began to be cast in villain roles, but his best work has been as the likeable working class bloke.

Throughout Australian Film there are many examples where the nobler characters tend not to say too much. They tend to be quite laconic, resorting to the occasional outburst which might take the form of a diatribe aimed at life's foibles. Murray Whelan, played cleverly by David Wenham, is depicted as one of those characters. His self deprecatory humour is typical of the genre and a breath of fresh air. For me this film exuded Melbourne. Although maybe just a little harsh on the State parliamentarian. Delightfully idiosyncratic. Some of the scenes around the factory were hilarious. Less convincing may have been the villain , Herb Gardner, played by Alan Hopgood, and Lionel Merricks, played by Sam Neill.

No, that isn't the name of a Pub near my house, it is a description of this TV movie set in good IL' Melbourne, Australia.

Most people would recognise David Wenham from Van Helsing as Hugh Jackman's little off-sider, but he is the main star of this (hopefully) series of movies where he plays Murray Whelan who seems to end up in many awkward predicaments throughout the show.

It is probably aimed more at Australian audiences to be honest, but it is well written, well acted and very amusing in parts. Murray Whelan is a likable character which may explain why there are a couple of his adventures out there.

As far as a mystery goes, it wasn't terribly hard to work things out in the end, but as it is sort of set up as a potential series of films, it is very good at telling us about the character and giving us an understanding of what he's about.

Good to see a cameo of our state Premier in there too! Looking forward to more in the series.

This film, while written by a talented funny man, with a good acting line up, did nothing for me. It lacked a beginning, an ending and a plot. Finding a dead man then researching through everything, only to find Mr Whelan dogged by bad guys, and no link was ever established as to why. I expected better work from Aussie film makers. This only serves to send Australian films back 30 years when the merest hint of one sent shudders down my back. It wasn't funny, not even amusing, it totally sucked. An awful lot was said about fictional and notable Turkish names of employees at the meatpacking plant, yet no connection was established with them and that exclusive club, and having politicians playing cameos was just plain silly. Are Australian writers wanting to lose out to big budget companies in America when it comes to quality TV movies? The Australian public deserve better than the trash it currently gets. I'll give it a 1/10 and that's being nice.