Let's Get Skase

Inspired by a late-show's segment where they raised money to pay for a bounty hunter to return an infamous con-artist of the grandest scale, this film is full of that bizarre Australian humour that just can't be done anywhere else in the world. It wasn't quite what I expected and as such I possibly enjoyed it less than if I had no expectations, but it was on the whole an enjoyable film.

The movie has a good mix of real and fictional events. It reflects much of the sentiment here in Australia about Skase, who fled to Spain with millions of dollars of other people's money. It's also quite prophetic, off-handedly predicting that Skase would fake his own death, which I believe to have happened.

For me, icing on the cake is that the majority of the external shots were filmed in my home city -- a rare event.

How this will be received outside of Australia is anyone's guess. Unless you've been following the real chase for Skase a little more closely than just water-cooler talk, you're unlikely to appreciate some of the movie. Subtle integration of minor fictional and real events may be lost on you unless you're familiar with the actual real players and real events.

This is a movie I went to, to support the local film industry. Also because I wanted to see some people kick the crap out of Skase, even if it was only fiction. I enjoyed it. I would imagine that many people who were adversely affected by Skase would also enjoy the majority of it. Your mileage may vary.

I remember seeing the trailer, and thinking this must be a funny film, but when it came to viewing, laughs ran short, but it was still entertaining if involving. Christopher Skase was scr..ing over the government, a con man of notoriety, who fled to Miyorka, his island paradise, a safe haven as you will. Here Skase, still alive, who has got a hell of a lot of Aussie folk, angry, where us folk would rather see him six feet under, is the object of a bumbling kidnap attempt, in return for a lot of moolah, he's stolen. This is headed by writer/director/and actor, Lachy Hulme (wonderful as Kerry Packer in last years, Howzat) who rounds up some eager volunteers who've had enough of Skase's games, the kind who are seeing red. Skase is played by a lookalike actor, who in the opening scene, where you don't see enough of him in this, for all you Skase hating fans, rises from a wheelchair, where we first thought he was chair bound. What an opening joke? Andrew Denton here provided a cherished moment, funny, giving his opinion on Skase, and how the majority of public hate his guts. Craig Maclachlan was funny as a personal trainer/fanatic, he was kind of an asset to this film. Alex Dimitriades was good too as one of the the team, who really has it in for Skase. The angrier he was, the better the performance, another entertaining highpoint. It was funny how this bumbling group go about their plan in snatching this man of controversy, an identity who is the arch enemy to a lot of blood boiling humans. But something came apart here or short circuited in this flick, especially in terms of comic status. Here was a good concept for a film, but I didn't get the succession of laughs I expected, although there were some good performances. I loved not just seeing Skase accidentally crashing into the pool on a wheelchair, (a humorous moment, among not many others) but also the animosity Dimitriades's girlfriend was giving Hulme, thinking of him as somewhat of a sham. Lets Get Skase is still an okay watch, but if you're seeking continual laughs, may I suggest Dags or You Can't Stop The Murders.

LETS GET SKASE is actually a very funny very well made film. Clobbered by the sneering media upon release and sinking without a trace - or a Skase - this film had the unforgivable fault of bad timing. The real Christopher Skase of the title actually.....died. And did so unpleasantly....so did the film at the box office. Now all that aside and separated from the media clutter upon release what do we have: a great looking film with a hilarious caper mentality beautifully filmed with a fun group of well cast males. Even the Skase impersonator is astonishing. Lachy Hulme (who?) stars and writes and heads a cast with a few great surprise performances: especially the normally seriously dramatic Alex Dimitriades offering a genuinely hilarious droll turn along with handsome lifesaver/commando Craig MacLachlan. The real delight for me was the absolutely charismatic and goofy Torquil Nielsen who has one of the great faces in Australian films. He is hardly ever seen ...maybe needs a better agent to get more profile. Like the equally disastrous timing of another comedy release DIANA AND ME (Princess Di was killed) which starred Toni Collette heading to London to meet you know who SKASE is overshadowed by the real demise of the real character it was lampooning. The Title comes from the bounty idea actually proposed one night on National TV. I remember well sitting in a deserted cinema laughing uproariously and wishing there was a big crowd equally delighted at discovering what a clever and well made comedy this film is. The media of the day did their very best to off put the entire population of Australia and unfortunately they listened instead of finding out for themselves. But I did and so should you.

Lets Get Skase is a great film, and for those people in the 'minority' you should remember one thing, Lets Get Skase is a work of pure fiction based on fact surrounding the events aftermath of the collapse of Quintex, Christopher Skase's empire and events that nobody has heard anything about lathered with loads of dramatic license for good measure. Lets Get Skase is a good solid Australian film, and in my mind is the best Aussie film for along. Lets Get Skase upholds the great tradition of "taking the p***" and to be honest this is all that the film has set out to achieve and it has done an exceptional job at that. Honestly who cares if Chris Skase was chased to the grave and is now dead and buried does it honestly make any difference to the plot of the movie if he is dead? Give it twenty years and nobody will be able to remember his name or why he was so hated. What makes Lets Get Skase such a great film is that it has struck a nerve with people good or bad.

OK, the film is based on real life, and real life is complex. However, it does not pretend to be a faithful re-enactment, so WHY include a whole lot of unnecessary characters and plot developments? Nothing much happened in this film until the last half hour, and that was pretty silly. If it wasn't for Alex Dimitriades looking as cute as he gets, this film would be terrible.