Any Questions for Ben?

The story of the film is not very original, but I guess with romcoms they rarely are. Its enjoyable enough to watch. Josh Lawson is charismatic as the main character and Rachael Taylor is also good and easy to look at, with some key scenes that stand out. Many of the side characters are quite annoying and mostly exist to ask Ben questions about himself.

Whats quite annoying is the overuse of music in scenes, at times its just going from montage to montage, and seems to be trying to cover up for a lack of depth in the script. He film sometimes rushes through scenes too fast to properly immerse viewers. The scenery is a highlight of various locations.

I watched this film in comfortable surrounds. It seemed (from other reviews) to be a likable look at the shiftless, affluent 20-somethings in my, and in every city. What happened is, I wanted to like AQfB much more than in fact I did.

It is a slight, and whimsical story about a 20-something executive, named in the title, whose life is free and without commitment. The film is at pains to point out that the event which starts him questioning his life. This event is pointed to, telegraphed and then repeated to the point of saturation.

Overall, AQfB was a combination of a badly edited film school project, a surfeit of one-liners looking for a home, and a good first draft for a much shorter film -- which, I believe should have been made.

"Any questions for Ben" is one of those quintessentially Australian offerings - a realistic film about real life people living in a real life world, and asking every day real life questions about their own lives.

The main character, Ben (a fantastic portrayal of a twenty-something playboy searching for the meaning of life, by actor Josh Lawson) seems to have it all - great job, wads of cash, gorgeous girlfriends, fast cars, partying mates, etc. etc.

When he is invited back to his old school to talk about his career to the next generation of job seekers his life seems complete - but it is this event that sets him off on a quest to find more meaning in what he begins to see as his superficial existence.

There is a wonderful supporting cast including a best mate who loves to party but lacks any trace of emotional intelligence (Andy, played by Christian Clark), a second bestie (Nick, played by Daniel Henshall) who envies Ben's lifestyle but is not much of a party animal himself (".....seems a bit weird to be the designated driver on your bucks night...") and Ben's ultimate love interest, Alex, a beauty both inside and out with a brain to match, played by the lovely Rachel Taylor, of whom I am sure we will be seeing a lot more (Nicole Kidman comes to mind).

The beautiful city of Melbourne makes a stunning backdrop to this thoughtful movie which will make you laugh a bit (especially the scene that rolls during the credits) and possibly cry a little - but overall you should feel that it was a very worthwhile experience.

Not much of a story here. You can tell the story was crafted around the advertising for Melbourne and Victoria who paid for the film. As a result the story is flimsy at best. It's entertaining enough if you don't want to think too much.

I tend to agree with most of the positive things that have been said about this film but wish to add that the true genius of this production is the casting by Jane Kennedy.

Not one poor or corny performance in the whole film. It is wonderful to know and see just how many really good actors there are in this country.

The excellent performances from the main leads and all of supporting roles make this a joy from start to finish.

Ben's parents, Sam, Andy, The airport staff etc etc - fantastic! Well done all but please take a special bow Jane!