Idiot Box

David Caesar was obviously fueled by the energetic 90's film revolution of films like "Pulp Fiction" and "Trainspotting" to make an Aussie crime story/satire. Unfortunately, "Idiot Box" does not even deserve the mention of those two films in my review.

The film's plot is awkward and unfocused. It chronicles the adventures of two hopeless losers Kev and Mick as they party and rebel against society. They seem to be always watching some kind of violent material on TV (hence the title), that leads to their decision to rob a bank. The events following are muddled and contrived.

The dialogue is absolutely embarrassing. There is a scene where Mick makes his way home from getting some brew, when he sees an attractive, but lonely liquor shop owner waiting for business. He is somewhat familiar with her, but not enough to start conversation with her by saying "What's poetry?". Why Caesar felt the need to open the scene like that is beyond me. Was he trying to give Mick depth? Does he honestly think someone has ever initiated a relationship by asking "What's poetry?". What's worse than this touch is her reaction. A completely normal, unquestioning response!

They call TV the idiot box because some believe watching enough of it leads to feeble-mindedness. Watching an hour and a half of this movie will do the same thing to you, so I would strongly recommend TV instead.

A grim, gritty and uncompromising look at slacker life in the western suburbs of Sydney, Australia. A similar mind set to FIGHT CLUB, THE GRADUATE, SUBURBIA and even A CLOCKWORK ORANGE - young men with no future, with nothing to do but spew hate at the establishment around them. An underrated, under appreciated and highly engrossing film. Watch this film and you'll feel like swigging a case of VB and smashing the empties against a brick wall.

From the deadly serious likes of Animal Kingdom or Two Hands, the darkly humorous hybrids such as Chopper or Death in Brunswick or the downright outrageous misfits like Gettin Square and The Mule, Australian cinema has a long and storied affiliation with the crime genre, with the rarely spoken about but well-regarded local cult oddity Idiot Box a mostly forgotten crime comedy gem that is an important piece of the early Ben Mendelsohn puzzle in the years leading up to his eventual ascension up the Hollywood ranks.

Written and directed by long-standing Australian filmmaker David Caesar, whose delivered other well known Australian features such as Mullet, Dirty Deeds and various episodes of a large collection of home grown TV series, Idiot Box follows the daily exploits of bogan best mates Kev and Mick (played with a lot of energy by Mendelsohn and his co-star Jeremy Sims, whose now a successful director) as the two dole inspired no-hopers hatch a haphazard plan to rob a bank and strike it rich in an attempt to escape the holes they have dug themselves.

Consisting of a lot of Mick and Kev merely roaming around their neighbourhoods, visiting pubs, gaming arcades, local shopping malls and hanging around at home while listening to rock music and drinking VB longnecks, Idiot Box isn't always a barrel of laughs, as sadly the depressing lives of Mick and Kev aren't exactly the lives of a fantasy world that doesn't exist, Idiot Box has a rough and ready feel too it that has allowed it too barely age these close to 25 plus years on from initial release that saw the film become a minor hit at local cinemas before heading the way of a largely obscure existence in the home video market, making it a film hard to track down in today's climate.

Key to the films success and a large reason why the film is able to overcome its sometimes aimless and walking in circles narrative is the interplay between Mendelsohn and Sims who work each other fantastically as their fairly unwise but somehow likable nobodies grow on us as the runtime wears on as we are caught up in their unlikely scheme to make a quick buck and start winning at life.

Now a well known commodity when it comes to bringing the troubled too life in a variety of ways, Mendelsohn is as good as you'd expect as the eternally angry Kev, a man who reveals in his anger and even suggests that it is one of his main hobbies while Sims gets less moments to explode his also quietly effective as the poem loving Mick with the two performers creating one of the more memorable Australian duos of the 90's in roles that shaped their career trajectories in the years to follow.

Final Say -

It's not grand Australian stuff but Idiot Box is a film that deserves more reflective viewing in today's era as it sits largely unspoken about in the hallways of local productions and it stands as a further reminder of the talents of Ben Mendelsohn who has long been lighting up the screen as Hollywood slowly but steadily caught on.

3 1/2 heartfelt poem recitals out of 5.

For more reviews check out Jordan and Eddie (The Movie Guys)

Not going to add spoilers, but it's a good movie. very much worth the watch

Look, I applaud any Australian movie that tries to tell a story about contemporary life in this country, but time and time again local film makers either make movies too derivative of overseas releases ("the Australian 'Scream'", "the Australian 'Pulp Fiction'"), or sabotage themselves with basically lousy and unconvincing characters. 'Idiot Box' does both. Everything about it is seen-it-all-before. The friendship between two losers, one supposedly sensitive, the other self destructive, the half baked robbery plan, the "ironic" use of pop culture references (in this case the corny cutting between the on screen story and the TV shows the characters watch), c'mon, this is supposed to be original and innovative movie making?

The characters of Kev and Mick (played by Ben Mendelsohn of 'The Year My Voice Broke' and Jeremy Sims of soapie 'Chances') are simplistic caricatures, who in no way are a true representation of suburban blue collar angst. Kev in particular is so yobboish that you never care a hoot about him. Mick's poetry and relationship with the girl who works at the local bottle shop (former pop singer Robyn Loau in a ludicrously under-written role) is supposed to show him as more worthy I suppose, but again, his character is so unconvincing there is no empathy or interest there.

A much more successful and disturbing look at Aussie surburbia can be seen in Rowan Woods superb movie 'The Boys'. Ironically two of "the boys" John Polson and David Wenham have supporting roles in 'Idiot Box'. Polson as a dim drug dealer, Wenham as a bank teller.

'Idiot Box' is phony and trite rubbish, and a complete waste of time.