Estranha Amizade

Following in the footsteps of "The Castle" and "Crackerjack" comes another sweet-humored Australian comedy.

Normally, the thought of having to put up with Paul Hogan for two hours would be enough keep most people away from a theatre, but Hogan and Caton as the affectionate 'squabbling old-couple' friendship is a highlight.

The premise is not overly original, a small town theatre owner (Paul Hogan) convinces a mechanic friend (Michael Caton) to pretend they are a gay couple to claim tax advantages. What follows as they try to hide their scheme from the other townsfolk, while trying to learn how to be 'gay' for the tax inspector, are the highlights of the movie. Hilarity ensues when our heroes travel to Sydney for the (gay) mardi-gras to study gay culture.

The climax is very predictable and somewhat unsatisfying, but overall the slapstick style is worth the cost of admission.

If Australian viewers will cast their minds back to the seventies, they may remember The Paul Hogan Show, a variety show in which Paul irreverently played the larrikin host. The twist was that he would make a grand entrance wearing tight fitting black shorts and a rugby top – a caricature of a footballer.

In Strange Bedfellows almost thirty years later, he cleverly parodies this costume by dressing up in close hugging spandex shorts and a black figure hugging tank top. Paul is probably having a good old chuckle at himself, and we are too, because there's generally lot of laughs to be had in this irreverent, and funny, but never offensive Australian film.

This is the best film that Paul Hogan has made in years. He doesn't over-play it, he's instantly amiable and most of all, he's giving life to a character that fits him like a glove. But kudos should also be given to the talented Michael Caton, who at times, gently steals the movie from beneath Hogan's feet.

Hogan plays Vince, a theatre owner in the small Victorian country town of Yackandandah. Vince's wife has recently left him and now he's left with nothing, apart from the single-bed he sleeps on in the projection booth. When he gets a letter from his ex-wife's accountant ordering he pay back years of back taxes, he turns to his best friend Ralph (Michael Caton), the town mechanic, for help.

Vince has just read that the current government, in a race for electoral votes, is giving gay couples the same legal rights as married couples including a retrospective tax law that allows them to claim all the usual tax rebates for up to five years. Vince decides the best thing to do is become gay - at least on paper.

Ralph is initially hesitant, but once Vince explains to him that it's just form filling bureaucracy, and that no one in the small town need ever know, he decides to help his best friend out. Things seem to be going well, until a letter arrives stating that a representative of the tax office is coming to visit, in order to make sure Vince and Ralf really are a same-sex couple.

Vince and Ralf are forced to embark on a crash course in learning how to be gay. Enlisting the help of the local gay hairdresser, (Glynn Nicholas) they learn how to "place a hand on a penguin," wax lyrical over a photograph of Liberace and call each other "she" and "girl." They even take a trip to Sydney where they befriend a group of biker gays and drag queens.

When the reserved and seemingly threatening tax inspector (Pete Postlethwaite) is sent to audit their claim, Ralph and Vince must try and convince him that they are a loving homosexual couple in a small town who knows them as anything but. Adding to the shenanigans is Ralf's daughter (Kestie Morassi), who is coming up to stay from Melbourne; she's devoted to Ralf, and has a surprise in store for him.

What makes Strange Bedfellows work so well is the amazing script that never condescends to either the urban gay community or the country people of Yackandandah. Judgment is never passed, even though the rural folk might see the gays as "weird," while the gays might view the country people as homophobic. Stereotypes abound, but the tone of the film is such that one cannot take any of them seriously.

Paul Hogan as Vince seems to be having a great old time; he's empathetic to the gay community, and seems to be opening his heart to a segment of society that he knows nothing about, while Michael Caton delivers a wonderfully warm character with enough complexity and self-contradiction to be three-dimensional.

Detailed, effectively paced, Strange Bedfellows is crammed with characters you'll feel are old mates by the time the credits roll, but best of all, Strange Bedfellows is a terrific plea for tolerance and equality for the gay community, along with a kind of homage to the age old Australian tradition of mateship. Mike Leonard September 05.

Forget Chuck and Larry. When you have Ralph and Vince, you have it all. These two made for some of the funniest comedy I have seen out of Australia.

Vince (Paul Hogan) has tax problems and the Australian government has just passed a law that allows same-sex couples a tax break - and it's retroactive. Scheming to save his arse, Vince convinces his best mate Ralph (Michael Caton) to pretend to be a same-sex couple to get the break.

Laughs ensue as they try to hide their secret from the local town folk, and get ready for an audit to prove they are actually gay. They enlist the help of the only know gay in town, predictable the hairdresser, and find out a clever secret he has been hiding. He helps them, and they go to Sidney to immerse themselves in gay culture before the tax man cometh.

While this is going on, Ralph's daughter is coming for a visit to introduce her partner. Everything comes together at the Fireman's Ball with Ralph and Vince, the whole town, the hairdresser, and a select few from Sydney, and, oh yes, Ralph's daughter and partner coming together.

Great fun!

Synopsis: A fictional and unlikely Australian Tax law has recently passed which allows all bona fide couples (including same-sex) to be treated with equity. In a small country town two good mates (men friends) have claimed desperately needed tax-relief and now must convince a Tax Inspector of their status, while trying to avoid creating a scandal in their close-knit community.

Comments: Strange Bedfellows is surprisingly enjoyable and rewarding. `Surprising' because I had dreaded that somehow Paul Hogan would stuff it up, but he does very well indeed as Vince, a man who hasn't ever fancied another man and really doesn't know where to begin. Michael Caton's Ralph is just as inexperienced in relating sexually to men, but hints at being more open to the possibility (though NEVER with Vince).

There are plenty of genuine laughs for gay & straight alike (though not always at the same time), and a rather high cringe factor in a few scenes - especially when the men are sampling `gay culture' during a whirlwind visit to Sydney.

Strange Bedfellows has it's heart in the right place, is decidedly LGBT friendly and has the same Australian cultural authenticity that made "The Castle" work so well. Of course the same strong element is shared here in the undeniably unique acting talent of Michael Caton.

This is a warmly entertaining film about the value of love and friendship. It probably qualifies as being a romantic comedy - but when Vince and Ralph share sweet memories about each other with the Tax Man you'll find there is no love lost. (8/10)

Set in the heart of country Australia, with a short journey to Sydney in the middle of the film, Strange Bedfellows tells the story of two close friends, Vince (Hogan) and Ralph (Caton) who cook up a plan to take advantage of a new law that gives tax breaks to Same Sex Couples. Trouble is, Vince and Ralph are as totally straight and must 'camp it up' it order to convince the government's tax inspector (Postlethwaite).

The laughs come thick and fast as Vince and Ralph, do what it takes to learn how to appear gay. The reaction of the locals and the great scenes set in a Sydney gay disco are only some of what makes this movie a winner. However the jokes, even the outrageous ones, are never at the expense of the gay community.

This is the funniest movie Paul Hogan has starred in since the original 'Crocodile' Dundee. He and Caton are a wonderful double act, supported beautifully by the rest of the cast, including a manic band leader in the final scenes, set against the back drop of some of Australia's most picturesque countryside. The ending works very well with all the loose ends, twists and all, being tied up.

Paul Hogan was a TV star in Australia long before the world met 'Crocodile' Dundee. Michael Caton is also well known to Australian TV viewers with memorable parts on many shows, from soap operas to comedy.