The Honourable Wally Norman

This is a highly enjoyable funny film. The mix-ups and the sight gags and the jokes that just keep on rolling. Right from the beginning there were hints that something was going to happen but they kept you right in there. You wanted to cheer and root for Wally Norman as he was manipulated and taken advantage of and it supported all your beliefs about crooked politicians and their backdoor dealings. A kind of Mr Smith goes to Washington or Full Monty, small people taking on the system and working it to their advantage after many stumbling blocks.

I played a small part in 'Wally Norman" as the bookmaker.

Had a blast doing the role and meeting the rest of the cast.

As time goes by this comedy gets better.....each time i watch it i see something new.

The cast and crew worked so hard on this flick and the movie deserved better at the box office.

Seems like the average movie goer here is more interested in the Hollywood blockbuster than the subtle film.

This comedy was very well written but not everyones cup of tea.

The pub scene when Wally comes back after the goat race was a hoot to shoot with free beer flowing all day.

The goat ate the wreath of flowers round it's neck but luckily the cameraman got a shot of it and it was used in the movie.

Anyway have a great life everyone.

Cheers Paul Makin.

ps Singo for PM.

This is a very funny movie, with hilarious performances from a host of famous Australian comedians, especially Kevin Harrington, HG Nelson, Micallef and Brian Dawe (of the Clarke-Dawe interviews series on '7.30 Report). I'm very surprised by the film's low score on IMDB. As some critics pointed out at the time of the film's release, the scene between Micallef and John Singleton (Micallef's fake political ad) is just about the funniest thing I can remember seeing in an Australian comedy. The film copped some flack when it came out, but I think most of that was tied up with the very bad rap most Australian comedies got in 2003. There was also a bit of controversy when the film was chosen to open the Sydney Film Festival (a pretty snooty affair usually reserved for 'arthouse movies'). Over time, I really hope this one will be up there, with 'The Castle', 'Big Steal' and a few others, as a classic example of laid-back, Aussie comedy. If you get a chance, don't miss it! Ted Emery (Fast Forward, Kath and Kim) has done it again.

I've seen some less than flattering reviews of this film. I have to say that anyone with an understanding and/or experience of politics in Australia will appreciate the intelligent humour and satire. I've also seen other comments that say there is nothing funny about this film. That's complete garbage. The Ken Oats political advertisement is the wittiest and sharpest piece of satire that has appeared in an Australian film in a long time. I give this five out of five.

The promotional trailer had been promising, but unfortunately all of the amusing bits of the film were in that trailer.

Consequently all I got out of the rest of Wally Norman was one snicker and a smirk (and I had to wait 30 minutes for the snicker).

The film is incredibly bland, and for a comedy that's pretty disastrous. There was a good sized crowd in our session, but very little real laughter - and several people, like myself, were clearly unimpressed.

It's got a fairly crappy script, old jokes, nothing more than predictability in its plot and some pretty shabby editing.

I would have walked out after 30 minutes, but there was a slight suggestion that Wally Norman's son might be gay, so I stayed on to see where they went with that. The son smiles whimsically on two occasions when he's looking at another young male character. The smile was obviously taken by some of the audience (who guffawed briefly) as meaning that Wally's son had as much interest in this man as did his daughter. However the son's sexuality is never even alluded to in the rest of the film, and the son doesn't look sideways at the other character again - proving that this was merely a directorial blunder.

It'll be interesting to see what the "Kath & Kim" devotees make of it (that's a popular current Australian TV series by the same director) - perhaps you require a special bent to see this film as being truly funny, rather than merely pleasant.