Any Questions for Ben?

I saw this movie yesterday in a deserted theater. There were 3 other patrons in attendance, which perhaps gives an insight into the fate of its theatrical release. Where to begin with the disatisfaction I felt watching it? For starters, despite the characters being described as being in their late 20's, the actors playing them did not look that age. Try mid thirties instead. It was a jarring and distracting element. This film dealt with 20s somethings who live in ultra glamorous surroundings whilst having identity crises and wondering what "it is all about" . They also attend lavish "ultra hip" events............basically. Its a hard life isn't it? . These are people you wouldn't want to spend a substantial amount of time with. This film seemed to comprise of party scene, after party scene, after party scene, after.......................If something actually happened at these parties, I could actually justify it. I cannot recall a film i have attended in recent memory that has DRAGGED as much as this film. I was aware of its 114 minute running time before going in, and I was stunned when I looked at my watch after what I thought was a substantial amount of time, to realise I had an hour left to go in the company of these annoying characters. Large tracts of this film could have been edited out without the "plot" being affected. I.e the segment dealing with the Russian tennis player. The film also appeared to a running advertisement for several corporate organisations, if you watch the film, it will be easy to detect them. The scene at the horse races has to be one of the most horribly photographed scenes in recent memory, with the actors outfitted in the most garish headgear and formal wear. The film has no score to speak of, it is just pop rock song after pop rock song of the Silverchair, Powderfinger variety. In the end, you start to wonder if you are watching some sort of music video montage . Another instance of the film falling victim to its own perceived "hip"ness. Perhaps Australian audiences are a bit more critical when Aussie films attempt to emulate tried and true formulas used more successfully by Hollywood (I.e the slick rom-com)? But this film did not ring true for me. It seems to me that perhaps the Working Dog team should have attempted a story about characters closer in age to THEM. I cannot recommend this film and if I had to summarise it in a word, it would be PHONY. Wait for DVD. (If you must).

"Any questions for Ben" is one of those quintessentially Australian offerings - a realistic film about real life people living in a real life world, and asking every day real life questions about their own lives.

The main character, Ben (a fantastic portrayal of a twenty-something playboy searching for the meaning of life, by actor Josh Lawson) seems to have it all - great job, wads of cash, gorgeous girlfriends, fast cars, partying mates, etc. etc.

When he is invited back to his old school to talk about his career to the next generation of job seekers his life seems complete - but it is this event that sets him off on a quest to find more meaning in what he begins to see as his superficial existence.

There is a wonderful supporting cast including a best mate who loves to party but lacks any trace of emotional intelligence (Andy, played by Christian Clark), a second bestie (Nick, played by Daniel Henshall) who envies Ben's lifestyle but is not much of a party animal himself (".....seems a bit weird to be the designated driver on your bucks night...") and Ben's ultimate love interest, Alex, a beauty both inside and out with a brain to match, played by the lovely Rachel Taylor, of whom I am sure we will be seeing a lot more (Nicole Kidman comes to mind).

The beautiful city of Melbourne makes a stunning backdrop to this thoughtful movie which will make you laugh a bit (especially the scene that rolls during the credits) and possibly cry a little - but overall you should feel that it was a very worthwhile experience.

I avoided ANY QUESTIONS FOR BEN? on its release as I simply didn't like the title and after watching a slew of uninteresting contemporary Australian comedies I decided to give the film a miss. I watched the it this evening on a streaming channel and was surprised to find I liked it as much as I did ... which may not be saying much. I wasn't aware this was a Working Dog production (the team who made The Castle and The Dish, as well as numerous highly successful and very funny television shows) and while it lacks the laugh out loud comedy of their earlier films, it contains a conventional rom-com formula that works fairly well.

Title character Ben (Hosh Lawson) is in his late twenties and although a university drop-out, he has built a high-profile reputation in marketing. Admired and envied by his friends, Ben lives in the CBD with his two best mates and spends his nights and weekends socialising and hopping from one tryst to the next.

After returning as a guest speaker to his alma mater, Ben meets up with old university friend Alex (Rachel Taylor) and learns she is working for the UN in Yemen. Both Ben and Alex address the current students at their old school and talk about their careers. During question time, the students have loads of questions for Alex but no one has questions for Ben - thus the film's awkward title. This causes an existential crisis for Ben who suddenly finds himself in searching for meaning. There is a hint of Woody Allen here that reminds me of Annie Hall, Another Woman and Hannah and Her Sisters (though not at all in the same league) where Manhattan protagonists stop moving long enough to suddenly recognise that their lives are meaningless.

Ben becomes fixated on Alex but finds that his old habits are hard to break as his fear to commit to anything longterm gets in the way of meaningful relationships. It is difficult to try and decipher what it is the Working Dog team are trying to say with their film. While Ben's friends are not unlikeable, there is a general lack of depth to any of them except Ben who feels increasingly isolated and alone in his angst-ridden journey even as he continually tries and fails to reach out to friends and family and connect on a more intimate level.

In the end, Ben makes a decision to stay with this job and his apartment after having led a a life of transient affluence throughout his twenties. This extends to his relationship with Alex and he finally gets enough gumption to put himself on the line for love. After flitting about Melbourne hot spots throughout the film, the ultimate message of the film seems to be that the solution for soullessness can be found in a highly conservative formula of work and family values ... yet after meeting Ben's parents, even this seems hollow. Is there a deeper cynical agenda at work for the Working Dog team? Maybe, although I'm thinking this is more my reading of the film as I seriously doubt they are clever enough to pull off cynicism with a lightness of touch.

The constant socialising at prominent Melbourne venues and festivals captured in fast paced montage as well as the deluge of aerial shots of the CBD certainly show off just how much the city of Melbourne has to offer - and what is shown of this beautiful southern city is not even half of what there is, especially as the film rarely wonders outside the space of the CBD to explore its rich cafe culture, theatre and arts - yet the constancy and excessiveness of shots of Melbourne seem like the film has been sponsored by a tourist information group. This might be a love letter to Melbourne, yet the film ends by ultimately showing that one has to fly to Yemen to actually find love.

The main thing you need to remember with this movie is that it's not supposed to win an Oscar for best film, so if you go into the film expecting it to be the greatest thing to ever hit a movie screen then your simply going to be disappointed. Instead, go in for a laugh. It's a feel good instant classic with some very genuine characters. You'll recognise a lot of them from your daily life which really helps you relate to the film.

Basically the film has a very 'funny because its true' vibe therefore creating a very close relationship with its audience, making it very hard not to relax and actually enjoy the movie rather than analysing every thing thats wrong with it.

A huge positive for me was the great/true light it showed Melbourne in. It's always been a struggle of mine to explain to internationals why they should visit Melbourne, I wouldn't recommend any of the so called 'tourist attractions'. So having the film visit the races, grand prix, moonlight cinema, air balloons and some top night spots really brought the movie on a whole to a 9 star finish for me.

So if you want a fun night out and have a good sense of humour then this is the movie for you. Can't wait to see it again.

The story of the film is not very original, but I guess with romcoms they rarely are. Its enjoyable enough to watch. Josh Lawson is charismatic as the main character and Rachael Taylor is also good and easy to look at, with some key scenes that stand out. Many of the side characters are quite annoying and mostly exist to ask Ben questions about himself.

Whats quite annoying is the overuse of music in scenes, at times its just going from montage to montage, and seems to be trying to cover up for a lack of depth in the script. He film sometimes rushes through scenes too fast to properly immerse viewers. The scenery is a highlight of various locations.