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!

Funny how two Kiwis (John Clarke & Sam Neill) have made one of the best and most keenly observed films ever made about the inner suburbs of Melbourne and sad how the only reviewers who couldn't appreciate its humour came from the southern states of the USA. Perhaps the humour came out of references that were a little too specific for people who haven't experienced post second war Melbourne and the effect that the large influx of southern European migrants had on both the city and the migrants themselves over the second half of the twentieth century. John Clarke, who another reviewer rightly said could be funny reading a phone book, steals the movie as the laconic friend of Sam Neill, the weak but likable hero of the story. Clarke played a significant part in the writing of the movie, which has a much lighter touch than the book upon which it its based, and his character gets many of the best lines. Sam Neill is terrific as the hapless hero of the piece, Ms Carides has an appeal that no "thirty something" male could resist, and the supporting characters including "Cookie's" domineering mother, Sophies' fearsome father, Clarke's no-nonsense wife, the club's sleazy owner and his dopey flunkies, and the drug dealing Turk and his associates are all just flawless. There may be parts of the world that contain people sufficiently insular to not appreciate this movie's humour or the way it shows a weak man dealing with and coming to terms with the forces that have oppressed him and one can but feel sorry for them. For the rest of us its a both a movie to bring a wry smile to our faces and a warning against eating crunchy pizzas.

A funny, dark comedy about a life changing episode of a 34 year old single man.

Coming from a posh upbringing but a complete slacker, or so you are lead to believe. The confused man seems to aspire to more and meets a young (19) bar girl at his work where he has just become the struggling head cook.

The clue to the twist is in the title, from being a romantic comedy with lovely little moments that echo your own ways in the early stages of dating. It then spins on it's head as an offbeat thriller, still just as funny though.

The darker side to the film gives it's funniest moments, notably after paralysing his mother, he then controls her wheelchair with a remote control to get about. Also his best friend deserves a mention, great deadpan calmness, especially when burying the body.

Maybe it is a little long for the story at hand but still well worth watching even if romance or thrillers aren't your thing as it has many other layers.

This is a great and inventive comedy. Although it does follow some tried and true paths, most of it is refreshingly new. There are even some great send up scenes of established movie cliches in it, the fight scene in the stairwell is a classic.

It's a very Australian, even a very Melbourne movie. It catches the look and characters of Brunswick rather well. I don't know what director John Ruane did to convince Sam Neill to be a part of this small movie but it was certainly worth it, he fits the character perfectly

Best of all though, this has John Clarke in it. He could read the phone book and it'd great comedy.

John Ruane hasn't really followed up on the promise of this movie yet, although last year's made for TV, "The love of Lionels life" was a step in the right direction.

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.