Bad Eggs

I watched Bad Eggs with the preconception that it was a mix of serious cop drama and comedy. After watching The Late Show and listening to Martin/Molloy, Tony Martin has come to my attention again through his return to the airwaves on MMM. I am catching up on the self-confessed movie buff's interim works by watching Bad Eggs and reading his book Lolly Scramble.

Bob Franklin and Mick Molloy didn't strike me as the two best leading actors for a film, but they perform respectably within the low budget Australian comedy format. The comedy and drama are better integrated than I was expecting, Bad Eggs is basically a tale of two detectives with a capacity for ineptness and clumsiness, who get mixed up in corruption in their own department, the fictional Zero Tolerance Unit of Victoria. There probably actually are individual agencies like this now with a similar lack of transparency, with ASIO recently being expanded and given increased powers. The film gets serious when the two detectives get deeper and deeper in the poo, but the comedic elements return when they strike back with the help of Northey, played by Alan Borough.

On the whole Bad Eggs is akin to a film like True Lies on the comedy scale, it is primarily a drama with comedy arising from storyline elements rather than from deliberately inserted jokes. It never manages to excel in any particular area but what was achieved was a film with a professional look, a storyline that maintains interest for the first 90 minutes, and a cast of fairly decent Australian actors and comedians.

Lately the quality of films coming out of Australia has been dreadful, but this movie has taken the Aussie Film industry to even lower depths.

What a poor film. The acting is dreadful on all accounts with most of the cast looking decidedly disinterested in the whole affair. Is the industry so short of talent that they now have to resort to actors who are totally unsuited for their parts? Mick Molloy as a copper just never washed one little bit for me. The production crew should hang their heads in shame. Most of the scenes have been way too overdone, milked for all they are worth and poorly edited. The grading is hopelessly uneven and in one scene there seems to be a sound sync problem. Then there are other technical sins. I mean really, I thought we were long past the days when boom mikes could be seen at the top of the screen. Every where you look there are the telltale signs of a rushed, poorly researched photoplay. One glaring unforgivable scene shows a van that is supposed to be holding 12 heavily armed men sitting high on it's springs and obviously unladen to even the most unobservant watcher. On the writing side, the swearing is way overdone even for the Australian Language. The previous reviewer states that the film is star studded and uses the "hit" word to describe the casts previous film "Crackerjack".

Crackerjack was a disaster, even in this country. So it's hardly an accolade. C'mon....Lawn Bowls. Oh yeah, they were queuing up out of the cinema doors for that one. Finally on the directing, well all I can say is "Roll over Stefan Elliot, you will soon be joined in that wilderness you have occupied since Woop Woop". Will someone please take a big cattle prod to the Aussie Film industry. It's been in a coma for far too long.

This movie describes itself as "a deadly serious comedy", but to me it is more of a "comedic thriller" in that the thriller aspect tends to predominate, with some laughs thrown in. It's well made, the plot being quite convoluted, and suspense maintained. Set in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, it can be compared with the movie "You Can't Stop the Murders" which was set in New South Wales. This latter film had more laughs, and less of the thriller element - but both are good movies and worth viewing. Bad Eggs gets 7 out of 10 from me.

A very solid directorial debut from one of Australia's finest comedy talents. Well written with good performances from Bob Franklin, Judith Lucy & long time Martin partner in crime Mick Molloy. Not a laugh a minute film, but very funny all the same, with a strong storyline (something too many comedies lack). The opening scene from a visual gag point of view is a real highlight.

Another thing worth noting, in a recent radio interview to promote the film, Martin said he made a conscious effort not put any trams in the film, as trams always seem to make an appearance in films set in Melbourne. Martin succeeds, this time including a train, part of another funny scene

In a time when Aussie movies are in a bit of bad patch, here is one that really surprised me. It is the Tony Martin brainchild, ‘Bad Eggs', a film that is so serious, that you have to look real hard for its funny bits. Martin has made a very intelligent movie, one that simmers along at a nice pace, includes a fine cast and shows off some of the great Melbourne locations. ‘Bad Eggs' is a movie that proves some cops will go to extraordinary lengths to get to the bottom of the trouble. But no-one told these cops the trouble they might end up in as well……………

Ben Kinnear and Mike Paddock are undercover cops with the elite Zero Tolerance Unit. Busted down to uniformed duties after a series of humiliating blunders, the duo accidentally uncovers a conspiracy that goes right to the middle. Helped only by embittered reporter, Julie Bale and a reluctant computer geek, Northey, Ben and Mike set out to clear their names and expose the villains.

Most of the praise for ‘Bad Eggs' has to go writer/director Tony Martin. With this film he has proven that he has a future in the industry. The script he wrote for the film was extremely well written, as it had a fascinating story, some clever character creations (although some of the guys we see onscreen are anything but clever) and the Aussie language we hear in the film is a good reminder of that culture. Yet the story was also quite complex, as we learn more and more about what is actually going on.

Martin's direction was another highlight of the film. With this sort of quality direction, it would be hard to believe this is Martin's first time as a movie director, making this film an even bigger achievement for him. The opening of the movie must have been difficult to shoot, but Tony got it spot on. The film flowed beautifully after the start. I truly look forward to Martin's next movie.

Bad Eggs also has a great Australian cast. The main characters in the film are Ben Kinnear (Mick Molloy) and Mike Paddock (Ben Franklin). Molloy gives a pretty good role here, as he is funny and serious at various moments of the film. His expressions are also quite interesting. It is a much better role from Molloy than his performance in ‘Crackerjack'. Franklin (From TV's Crash/Burn), was great in his role, as he was very funny, although he seem not to have to work hard at being this way. Paddock says and does some of the more silly antics in the movie. I love how he goes ‘Chicka-chow'. Another integral character to the story is Julie Bale (Judith Lucy). Here, Lucy shows that she really can act. Lucy and Molloy suit each other onscreen, sharing a good chemistry in ‘Bad Eggs'. Judith also gives her character a steely resolve, something that I enjoyed seeing.

The supporting cast of the film is just as great. Northey (Alan Brough) might be a geek, but proves he is a good guy, who helps Kinnear and Paddock when they need it the most. Heading the ZTU unit is Doug Gillespie (Marshall Napier), who we see has many headaches thanks to his undercover agents. While, Widow Eleanor Poulgrain (Robyn Nevin), help out Ben and Mike, when she could be excused for not doing so. The bad guys in the film are a bit ‘schonky' alright. Ted Pratt (Bill Hunter) is a foul mouthed senior cop, who is definitely not on the level. Helping Ted is Wicks (Nichols Bell), a very sneaky and unethical police official. Then, with a very interesting cameo appearance in the film is state premier Lionel Cray (Shaun Micallef). Micallef was pretty good in the movie, with his character very dubious and having some of the more memorable lines.

The various scenes in the film are great. The opening of the film with the out of control car, going into a shopping mall was great to see. Then you have setups such as the fire at the widow's house, the bombing of the house and the driving of a car into a service station gas tank all being entertaining. However there was one scene that reminded of a film that I did not like too much. The infiltration of the highly guarded computer room by Ben and Mike, reminded me of the vault scene from Mission Impossible (1996) for some reason. I also enjoyed the dancing sequence used at the end of the film, with Molloy and Lucy showing that they can dance beautifully together.

With that in mind, I also like the musical themes in ‘Bad Eggs'. The music makes the film seem like it is super serious, then at the change of a tone, the film can seem to be very ‘light-hearted'. I like the music that was used in the final scene of the movie, as it gave the film a ‘classy' kind of feeling, with the song in question being "Where or When" from singing maestro Frank Sinatra. The musical score for Bad Eggs was by David Graney and Clare Moore.

I have never seen a film that is so serious, yet at times so stupid. The balance of those elements works particularly well here. This film is not meant to be taken that seriously by its viewers, as the movie takes care of that for us. I was weary of this movie, because I was not a fan of the Mick Molloy Aussie flick ‘Crackerjack', but I have plenty of respect for ‘Bad Eggs'. Tony Martin can be pleased with this effort as director, as he has proven to me that he should continue his career in movie-making. I highly recommend ‘Bad Eggs', a film that I believe just might help clean up the ‘bad smells' that are starting to overtake the Australian Film Industry.

CMRS gives ‘Bad Eggs': 4 (Very Good Film)