Love in Limbo

"Love in Limbo" is like an Australian take on "Porky's" or "Lemon Popsicle", only with slightly more engaging characters, and a less repulsive attitude to women.

The movie is set, of course, in the '50s. Why are these coming-of-age/sex comedies so often set in the youthful days of the filmmakers? Why don't they just set them in the modern day, and capture the youth market? There's not enough nostalgia value in this stuff to interest people who were teenagers in the '50s, even in the 1990s.

Anyway.

The protagonist in this film is an expert in sexual matters, but a virgin. He knows the words but not the music, as Groucho would say. Sex starved, he has devoted himself to the study of the act, but has no idea how to make it happen. There is much truth to this, and many people, young or old, can relate to having booksmarts, but no streetsmarts.

Ken Riddle, the protagonist, is even smart enough to make money off his obsession, producing pornographic drawings to sell to his peers in the days before Playboy, late-night films, SBS, and long before the internet.

His proclivity gets him in trouble, and he is expelled from school, so goes to work, where his supervisor is even more socially inept than he is: a Welshman by name of Arthur, who is played by Russell Crowe!

I have never seen Crowe in a role like this, and this is not surprising. He feels very strangely miscast. It is hard to believe that this movie came out AFTER "Romper Stomper"! Who the hell saw his terrifying portrayal of a psychopathic skinhead and thought, he's the man to play the priggish Welsh stick-in-the-mud who works in a clothing factory?

I can only assume the movie was cast or filmed before "Stomper".

Australian filmgoers may also recognize Martin Sachs, the guy who tried to steal the Super Mario voice actor's job in "Underbelly" (ugh), and the adorable Maya Stange as Ken Riddle's twin sister Ivy.

I have often felt that other countries' treatment of sex - especially in the awkward phase - is a lot more frank than America's, despite the perhaps literally infinite number of sex comedies that came out of there in the '80s (just try to watch them all).

This results in a more truthful, and even more erotic, experience.

Those American pics are made by adults, and yet seem to share the protagonists' attitude to sex.

Films like "Love in Limbo" are deeper, more knowing, and more empathetic.

If the film has another obvious flaw, however, it's in the double-miscasting of the protagonist, along with Crowe. I feel the movie would have benefited from a more charismatic lead actor.

Very funny technicolor-style 50s teen farce, LOVE IN LIMBO was released in 1993 in Perth and massacred by snarly local critics. As a result it staggered into other Australian cinemas briefly and unfortunately disappeared. The absolute joy of this charming fizzy pop movie is the lively comedy between the 3 main cast - the main one now being Russell Crowe in the part of a Scottish accountant-nerd, an acting stretch successfully far greater than anything else I have since seen him in, Oscars 'n' all. His flair for comedy is never been repeated as well as it is here; not that he is a comedian (except for VIRTUOSITY which is unintentional). Preceeding ROAD TRIP and American PIE by a full decade LOVE IN LIMBO recreates in Australia the on screen look of THE GIRL CAN'T HELP IT and the leery loony fun of good natured modern teen comedies, but without the stickyness. A real find and a genuine delight. I hear a rumour a DVD might appear in the coming year. It will probably then find its much deserved market.

This film follows a young geeky Australian in his late teenage years in the 1950s. Expelled from school for drawing pornographic pictures (ah, innocent times!) he gets a job in his uncle's clothing factory and makes friends with two young men that work with him.

The young trio embark on a series of amusing set pieces - their first car, a drive in, a visit to the bottle shop and the outback whorehouse - that see them grow as men and friends.

Nice enough, and worth a watch if only to see a young Russell Crowe playing with a VERY bad Welsh accent!

Just picked this up in a sale bin on DVD and mighty glad I did. I wasn't expecting too much, but I was taken by surprise by how good it is. In one sense it's a typical teen coming-of-age movie, but it has a really good script with several interweaving plotlines which all work, held together by excellent performances from the three teen leads, plus the adults (particularly Mum)and some good supporting performances. It captures the spirit of the fifties well, with a superb soundtrack plus a cameo appearance from R&B legend Little Willie Littlefield (and an excerpt from the classic rock'n'roll movie The Girl Can't Help It). Above all it's funny, particularly the sequence when the boys finally get to the brothel in Kalgoorlie, only to have the working girls practically go on strike just as they think they're finally about to taste the delights of sex! Although better known as a producer, David Elfick directs with finesse and the gaudy fifties decor fits the bill exactly. This has to be one of the best movies of its kind, and I shall be watching my DVD a lot.

I first saw Love in Limbo playing late on free to air TV about five years ago, and since then it's a movie I'll always remember warmly as one of those films you see and are forever influenced by.

For the uninitiated, Australian film has a long history of making off-beat comedies about lovable losers, and Love in Limbo is a sterling example of this. Whilst Russel Crowe is the only name actor in it (although these days he's all a movie needs), the rest of the Aussie cast is good- he still steals the show as a nervous, nerdy, virgin loser though.

The general premise is a lot like American Pie. A group of friends wanting to get laid and become men. As you'd expect, the entire movie focusses on this (with a sub-plot about the lead's mother and various other incidents), and is full of humorous situations that push it towards the inevitably sweet ending.

If you enjoyed American Pie, don't expect this to be the same- but expect the same conventions to make appearances. Love in Limbo isn't a gross out romantic comedy- but it definitely has its share of laughs, fist pumping moments when the good guy wins, and the situations every guy, Australian or otherwise, can relate to.

See it if you liked: American Pie, Almost Famous. Strengths: Good Aussie cast, easy to relate to, good perve value. Weaknesses: Predictable at points. My Rating: 8 out of 10