A friend gave me a free ticket to this movie so I went out and watched it. I've been saying how recent Australian movies are so mediocre, but the Crop misses even this modest mark by a fair margin - this has to be one of the worst theatrical releases I've seen in many good years.
There are so many things that are so wrong with this picture - it would be better to discuss about what went right, which incidentally isn't a lot. The movie opens up with a scene at a strip club in 80's, which is completely convincing to those people who have never been to one. I swear the place was lit so bright I thought it was an office party.
And then there is this voice-over telling you exactly the thing we are seeing. Why is the voice over necessary in this scene? Movies like 'Fight Club' or 'About a Boy', voice-over is used to create biting remarks that compliment what we see on the screen. It adds something additional. But in here, it's as dull as 'I own a strip club' - well, sir I see already that you do, you don't need to tell me that.
First scene wasn't a good omen, but I held out, but my hope was quickly dashed by the 'acting' skill of the main character Blade played by Writer George Elliot. Funny how the other movie character called Blade was so cool. He is so miscast in every conceivable way that it was almost surreal how bad he was. I have seen scores of school movies where actors work for free who were better than this guy.
Despite being the writer, George Elliot doesn't seem to realize that he is in a comedy piece. He comes off so stilted and so wooden, there was not even a single laughter in the entire cinema for the entire duration. Not even a small chuckle. People might have mistaken we were seeing Requiem for a Dream.
Other supporting characters get off lighter. Main female role, pretty Holly Brisley, might make a good Ralph girl but she is not, by a substantial margin, the right actor for the role. Above supplying pretty bad acting, she looks 20 and he looks 50 - well, it happens all the time, but the movie should have explore and explain little more about what this apparent age gap does to this relationship.
And there is this really, really annoying female character that I wanted to strangle myself - when you watch the movie you will know who I'm talking about here. So offensively annoying in every manner, in every scene, I wonder she had some personal retribution against people seeing this movie. Seeing her is like Chinese water torture.
Rhys Muldoon plays the best of Blade, and you can tell he is a good actor who just needs a good role, but even Edward Norton couldn't have saved this role.
Then there is the heart of the problem - the script. Problems should have been obvious from get-go, I can't imagine the producers couldn't see them at the development stage. I am not even complaining about the clichéd 'underdog vs system' theme, nor am I bitching about its so painfully dumb and obvious plot. I'm talking about its dialogue. Look, I don't expect Quentin Tarantino here, but please, pleeeaaase, have someone go through the script so it doesn't sound like a script written by some high school kid inspired by a few mildly entertaining episodes of Neighbors.
I think it all comes down to the damaging ego of George Elliot. If he was any smarter he would have cast Rhys Muldoon as its main character - and himself as the friend. It's obvious that George Elliot wielded too much power that blinded him from listening to common sense. But some people need to learn in hard ways.
There are so many things that are so wrong with this picture - it would be better to discuss about what went right, which incidentally isn't a lot. The movie opens up with a scene at a strip club in 80's, which is completely convincing to those people who have never been to one. I swear the place was lit so bright I thought it was an office party.
And then there is this voice-over telling you exactly the thing we are seeing. Why is the voice over necessary in this scene? Movies like 'Fight Club' or 'About a Boy', voice-over is used to create biting remarks that compliment what we see on the screen. It adds something additional. But in here, it's as dull as 'I own a strip club' - well, sir I see already that you do, you don't need to tell me that.
First scene wasn't a good omen, but I held out, but my hope was quickly dashed by the 'acting' skill of the main character Blade played by Writer George Elliot. Funny how the other movie character called Blade was so cool. He is so miscast in every conceivable way that it was almost surreal how bad he was. I have seen scores of school movies where actors work for free who were better than this guy.
Despite being the writer, George Elliot doesn't seem to realize that he is in a comedy piece. He comes off so stilted and so wooden, there was not even a single laughter in the entire cinema for the entire duration. Not even a small chuckle. People might have mistaken we were seeing Requiem for a Dream.
Other supporting characters get off lighter. Main female role, pretty Holly Brisley, might make a good Ralph girl but she is not, by a substantial margin, the right actor for the role. Above supplying pretty bad acting, she looks 20 and he looks 50 - well, it happens all the time, but the movie should have explore and explain little more about what this apparent age gap does to this relationship.
And there is this really, really annoying female character that I wanted to strangle myself - when you watch the movie you will know who I'm talking about here. So offensively annoying in every manner, in every scene, I wonder she had some personal retribution against people seeing this movie. Seeing her is like Chinese water torture.
Rhys Muldoon plays the best of Blade, and you can tell he is a good actor who just needs a good role, but even Edward Norton couldn't have saved this role.
Then there is the heart of the problem - the script. Problems should have been obvious from get-go, I can't imagine the producers couldn't see them at the development stage. I am not even complaining about the clichéd 'underdog vs system' theme, nor am I bitching about its so painfully dumb and obvious plot. I'm talking about its dialogue. Look, I don't expect Quentin Tarantino here, but please, pleeeaaase, have someone go through the script so it doesn't sound like a script written by some high school kid inspired by a few mildly entertaining episodes of Neighbors.
I think it all comes down to the damaging ego of George Elliot. If he was any smarter he would have cast Rhys Muldoon as its main character - and himself as the friend. It's obvious that George Elliot wielded too much power that blinded him from listening to common sense. But some people need to learn in hard ways.