Gettin' Square

A solid example of an Aussie crime/comedy caper - but more than that, it's a brilliant display by David Wenham, who deserves much applause (and a good shower) for his portrayal of Johnny 'Spit' Spiteri.

Many things come together to make this a great Aussie film. The cinematography is clever and fresh, the script is, and the acting is superb.

Sam Worthington is Barry, recently out of prison, who lands a job as a chef in a struggling restaurant, run by Darren (the wonderful Timothy Spall), an ex-con trying to stay straight. When Darren runs into trouble with a suspect $200,000, and Barry's friend Spit runs afoul of the local gangster (Gary Sweet), they team up for a double-cross - but it's much more complicated than that.

The script is smart and devilish, but while it twists and turns, it never approaches ridiculousness. Written by prominent criminal lawyer Chris Nyst, you wonder who much is fact and how much is fiction - something here seems plausible.

That might be just the superb acting. Worthington is solid and believable, but Wenham utterly steals the show as the hapless, mullet-wearing Spit. One scene where Spit goes before a court hearing is one of the highlights of Aussie cinema of the last decade. It's stunningly scripted, brilliantly acted - and very funny.

'Gettin Square' isn't as good as 'Two Hands' - it's uneven at times, slightly plodding early on, and takes 40 minutes to really get into the script - but it's still well worth the entry price.

This was a decent Aussie comedy-crime caper. Granted it takes a bit to get going but is worth watch for a young Sam Worthington and a knock out performance from David Wenham as 'Spit' the lovable, mullet spouting drug addict. Friends in prison, both men are paroled around the same time and determined to put the past behind them and stay straight.

Spit struggles with heroin, noisy flip-flops and a lack of pants while 'Barry' gets a job at the Texas Rose, a restaurant owned by another ex-con trying to go straight as a family man and lose some unwanted pounds -played by the excellent Timothy Spall.

All three men are being targeted by a local crime boss, a shifty accountant and a corrupt detective and get pulled into that one last heist. There's a bit of a love story between Worthington and his parole officer, lots of twists, some good laughs (mostly during the courtroom scene) and a fantastic soundtrack. 10/19/16

David Wenham as the nobel Faramir, hero of Gondor, is totally unrecognizable as the greasy-haired, twitching, whining drug addict John "Spit" Spitieri of "Gettin' Square". The film is great - it moves fast, never lets you lose interest and gives you a real emotional connection to the main characters - Barry, Dabba and Spit, all trying desperately to go straight but threatened with derailment by the plans of less-respectable acquaintances from their past. The story is great, the directing tight, the performances - especially Wenham's - top notch. His courtroom scene alone is worth the ticket price for the film.

The marketing killed this one because it was a great film with brilliant performances but it seemed like another bad comedy. However it was really entertain and David Wenham was brilliant as Spit. The courtroom scene is classic stuff.the ending is a bit weak and sentimental but still a good film.

If you don't like the film, I would venture to say that you have missed the point of trying to capture the Oz psyche. This flick did, and I loved it.

From the choice of Nick Cave singing whilst Barry resigns himself to a corrupt flogging, to Spit's thongs (flip flops for out-of-towners) and acid wash jeans, this film is one of those "essence" films. When done well, capturing the essence of Australia, that is rapidly fading into history (and we can all identify or know many of the characters) just makes you laugh.

The treat is how an good tale has been woven around the lead characters, ususally its the opposite. In particular, I am totally amazed how Mr Wenham, like he did in Cosi (my favourite Oz movie), manifests a character so utterly different from the man himself. He truly is the business when it comes to his craft.