Swinging Safari

This is not the funniest comedy you'll ever see and it's not even a particularly effective coming-of-age story, but it is a lot of fun and entertaining from beginning to end. It boasts a great Australian cast, none of them taking themselves too seriously and all of them really enjoying themselves. It also has a quirky story stuffed full of nods to 1970's fads, values and lifestyles. If you grew up in that period, you especially will love this movie. For the rest of us, this is one of those little self-deprecating comedy gems that Australians do so well and it will give you plenty of chuckles. Highly recommended.

Enjoy this for what it is. So many memories came flooding back. I was a young policeman in the late 70,s and the kids at the blue light disco were how i remembered them, the ways the tried to sneak alcohol in was a laugh every disco. The characters were people i dealt with every shift when on patrol. Its not a classic by any stretch of the imagination, but just forget everything and drift back into a time when everything didn't appear to be that bad.

Having just seen Deadpool 2, which is such a letdown after the first one, I cannot understand how this is getting such bad reviews ... Its bright, colourful and laugh out loud funny ... If you grew up in a seaside community in the 70s its a must ... If you like 70s Australian cinema its a must ... If you like camp, daft as a brush comedies its a must ... Its not trying to be a masterpiece ... Its just a funny, but sharp, pastiche of cliched 70s Australia ... And gord did those cliches really exist ... Give it a go ... It made me laugh out loud ... A lot :)))

This Australian comedy takes place in the 1970's in a cul-de-sac in a suburb near a beach-front. Its knockabout story focuses on the three families who live there. Written and directed by Stephan Elliott, this film is an autobiographical account of his life as a kid back in the day, with a few inventions added for good measure.

This is a movie which will mainly appeal to those who can remember the 70's. It benefits from a colourful look which celebrates that decade's style and décor in all its gaudy excess. Just for its period detail alone, it is quite a good watch. The story is split 50/50 between the perspective of the adults and the kids. The comedy is often pretty broad and not in all honestly always fully funny, although it does definitely provide a few chuckles throughout. There is no narrative to speak of really and nothing of especial consequence happens more or less. Amongst other events, there is a beached whale, a swinger's party, kids making violent DIY movies, shag-pile carpets, K-TEL records, an Evel Knievel costume and unfortunate pets. Everything is a bit random and several scenes don't particularly lead anywhere. The concoction adds up to a sporadically amusing comedy which ultimately gets by on its fun 70' vibes.

Energy abounds in this Aussie flick with lots of great set design and costumes to match and that's as far as it got for me. The rest was a bit of a dissapointment.

Yes, I did expect a certain vulgarity to be present but some aspects of the narrative I just found just silly and at times plain stupid. Several minutes of voice over and fast cutting I found overwhelming at the start. There were some set pieces I found funny and was laughing along with the rest of the audience who were at times laughing more than I did, however it was these ridiculous parts of storyline that killed it for me. They kinda were absurd but the execution was where the word silly and stupid came in.

Guy Pearce is always great but overall the cast's characters were not developed enough. Kylie Minogue and Jack Thompson's characters in particular were strangulated by the lack of thought given to them in the script. Mr Thompson's character just didn't go anywhere or vary. Not to blame him at all.....there was little heart in the characters overall.

The sound mix however was well executed.