Writer David Williamson once explained that this tale of an Australian toy company in negotiations with a powerful American corporation (think Mattel) is a metaphor for the Australian film industry in the early 1980s, worried about losing its financial and creative independence. If so, it's a pretty clumsy one, and the comparison with 'Spotswood', made a decade later and set in a small Melbourne shoe factory, doesn't do Williamson any favours. Significantly, that film was a gentle comedy. It's hard to take 'Duet' seriously because of its try-hard tossing together of way too many plot elements, some laughably ridiculous, others stale and hackneyed. It might have fared better if it had gone the comedy route too. Having recently watched 'Don's Party', I'm beginning to question Williamson's accolades. The reputation for snappy dialogue, realistic depictions of Aussie life and relationships and great one-liners was earned in the theatre, I guess. On film, his dialogue and plots often just seem to be in need of serious editing.
There are things to enjoy, nevertheless. I watched it for the nostalgia of experiencing a little of a time and place that mean a lot to me, and to learn more about Australian films of that era.
Worth watching is Mike Preston as toy company exec Ray and Wendy Hughes as his de facto, both making the most of their roles and often lacklustre dialogue. Diane Cilento as Ray's posh and demanding ex is stylish and Sigrid Thornton does about as much as possible as one-dimensional troubled daughter. For entertainment value, it's fun to watch the absolute hash Michael Pate makes of Al, the American corporate wheeler-dealer, so bad he's almost good. Everything about the character is unconvincing and shallow. If, as Williamson suggests, the setting of 'Duet' is a metaphor, then perhaps the role of Al could be viewed as a metaphor too, for Williamson's hit-and-miss characters.
