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.
16 Reviews
Life beyond the box.
DukeEman27 April 1999
Life in western Sydney as depicted by director Caesar with two nothing-to-do down and outs who plan to rob a bank. A few interesting touches in the visual department but the script lacked a certain bite to match the brilliant performance of the two leads.
Such is life in Suburban Australia
The-Sarkologist7 December 2012
Warning: Spoilers
The first comment I must make about this film is that the characters are so Australian. This is not surprising considering that it is an Australian Film, but the thing is is that the characters are genuine. It is as if the makers followed some around and took down all of their mannerisms and speech patterns. I was seriously convinced that Mick and Kev were genuine.
This movie was a comedy, and I really did not find it that funny. The funniest scene was when they were being chased down the street by a guy in a koala suit after stealing his money bucket. Other than that, there was not much that I found really funny about the movie. Yet as an Australian film, I think that it continues to set the standard. We don't go for fancy effects, but rather real characters, and the characters in Idiot Box are real.
The movie is based around two unemployed bums, Mick and Kev. They think they know everything, but really don't. Mick fancies himself a poet and Kev fancies himself important. Mick at least has a go at being a poet, Kev is simply a looser, and very much like some Australians that I know. He is an idiot that thinks that he can think when he really cannot. He is the one that gets everybody around him into trouble, and then blames them for stuffing up. He can never do any wrong, yet he himself just can't stay out of trouble.
Mick and Kev want to rob a bank. They think they can do it, but as the film progresses they seriously do not know what they are getting into. The police aren't onto them, but rather trying to stop a group that has been successfully robbing a lot of banks. Kev and Mick just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
What I liked about this was that I could not predict the ending. I knew that they could not pull off the robbery because they simply do not know what they are doing. In fact they seem to make more enemies than friends. Their self centred attitudes, especially Kev's, seems to alienate them. Kev is the leader of the two, and the cover shows that because Kev is running ahead of Mick with a serious look on his face, while Mick is laughing.
Idiot Box also gives us an idea of what it is like on the dole, but they are not seriously looking for a job, rather they just bludge around home and the pub. Mick and Kev are dole bludgers and as such we do not feel any sympathy for them. If anybody, we feel more sympathy for Mick because he actually seems like a nice guy. Kev is simply just shallow because he refuses to let his emotions out. When Mick meets up with a young lady, we begin to see another side of him, a side that is sensitive and loving, and we feel that he is being dragged into something by Kev.
What is also interesting is that they are not made heroes at the end of the movie, and as such I feel that this raises the movie about the typical Hollywood garbage. The characters in this movie are in way over their heads, and are so fortunate that they are given a second chance.
This movie was a comedy, and I really did not find it that funny. The funniest scene was when they were being chased down the street by a guy in a koala suit after stealing his money bucket. Other than that, there was not much that I found really funny about the movie. Yet as an Australian film, I think that it continues to set the standard. We don't go for fancy effects, but rather real characters, and the characters in Idiot Box are real.
The movie is based around two unemployed bums, Mick and Kev. They think they know everything, but really don't. Mick fancies himself a poet and Kev fancies himself important. Mick at least has a go at being a poet, Kev is simply a looser, and very much like some Australians that I know. He is an idiot that thinks that he can think when he really cannot. He is the one that gets everybody around him into trouble, and then blames them for stuffing up. He can never do any wrong, yet he himself just can't stay out of trouble.
Mick and Kev want to rob a bank. They think they can do it, but as the film progresses they seriously do not know what they are getting into. The police aren't onto them, but rather trying to stop a group that has been successfully robbing a lot of banks. Kev and Mick just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
What I liked about this was that I could not predict the ending. I knew that they could not pull off the robbery because they simply do not know what they are doing. In fact they seem to make more enemies than friends. Their self centred attitudes, especially Kev's, seems to alienate them. Kev is the leader of the two, and the cover shows that because Kev is running ahead of Mick with a serious look on his face, while Mick is laughing.
Idiot Box also gives us an idea of what it is like on the dole, but they are not seriously looking for a job, rather they just bludge around home and the pub. Mick and Kev are dole bludgers and as such we do not feel any sympathy for them. If anybody, we feel more sympathy for Mick because he actually seems like a nice guy. Kev is simply just shallow because he refuses to let his emotions out. When Mick meets up with a young lady, we begin to see another side of him, a side that is sensitive and loving, and we feel that he is being dragged into something by Kev.
What is also interesting is that they are not made heroes at the end of the movie, and as such I feel that this raises the movie about the typical Hollywood garbage. The characters in this movie are in way over their heads, and are so fortunate that they are given a second chance.
A forgotten Aussie gem worth tracking down
eddie_baggins4 April 2022
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)
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)
A pathetic example of the Aussie film industry.
Red_Lightning_1914 March 2011
Warning: Spoilers
A realistic and stark view of life in the western suburbs of Sydney seen through the eyes of two testosterone filled young men Kev and Mick and the people they come across. From their boredom and lack of direction in life they plan an audacious bank robbery to solve their financial situation.
Unfortunately for me the plot didn't flow all that well despite being a good concept, it seems to rely too much on violence and excessive swearing,and in some cases corny dialogue as filler for the most part.
By leaving out the drug dealing husband and his heroin addict wife I believe the story might have been a lot better and more consistently. The characters themselves are either poorly fleshed out or stereotyped. One example of this is the 'Anyone comes near me and I'll knock their $%#!ing head off', personality of Kev will grind after a while,as does Mick's attempts to seduce the girl working at the bottle shop(which does work in the end).
All in all 'Idiot Box' is a total and utter piece of 90's rubbish and should only be viewed in the genre it is classified as,dark comedy.
Unfortunately for me the plot didn't flow all that well despite being a good concept, it seems to rely too much on violence and excessive swearing,and in some cases corny dialogue as filler for the most part.
By leaving out the drug dealing husband and his heroin addict wife I believe the story might have been a lot better and more consistently. The characters themselves are either poorly fleshed out or stereotyped. One example of this is the 'Anyone comes near me and I'll knock their $%#!ing head off', personality of Kev will grind after a while,as does Mick's attempts to seduce the girl working at the bottle shop(which does work in the end).
All in all 'Idiot Box' is a total and utter piece of 90's rubbish and should only be viewed in the genre it is classified as,dark comedy.
insightful, frustrated and culturally relevant
lefteyeblinking15 September 2005
What is needed for this film is a cultural reference point, that is some sort of experience/insight to suburban Australian life.
As anyone who has ever lived or spent time in the western suburbs of Sydney will no doubt know, the options for fun and excitement are, to say the least, somewhat limited. All that exists is a cycle of bad straight tovideo movies, longnecks in the park, and conversations with a selection of dodgy blokes in pubs...
Now with that background in place, we come to idiot box. The film, although a comedy, is no satire. It is more an accurate representation of the pointlessness and utter boredom of the Sydney suburbs an draws its humor from such.
A feeling of subdued frustration prevails in this film, in fact it is the general theme of it. The characters plan to rob a bank, however woefully conceived, is an extension on this, a philosophy that it does not matter whether they succeed, fail or even try, it matters only that they have done SOMETHING.
Idiot Box resonates with Sydneysiders, with Australians, it is an extremely relevant and poignant representation of a culture of boredom and frustration,a culture that lays its blame for this othersat the feet of others. It is not a film that translates well to other cultures.
As anyone who has ever lived or spent time in the western suburbs of Sydney will no doubt know, the options for fun and excitement are, to say the least, somewhat limited. All that exists is a cycle of bad straight tovideo movies, longnecks in the park, and conversations with a selection of dodgy blokes in pubs...
Now with that background in place, we come to idiot box. The film, although a comedy, is no satire. It is more an accurate representation of the pointlessness and utter boredom of the Sydney suburbs an draws its humor from such.
A feeling of subdued frustration prevails in this film, in fact it is the general theme of it. The characters plan to rob a bank, however woefully conceived, is an extension on this, a philosophy that it does not matter whether they succeed, fail or even try, it matters only that they have done SOMETHING.
Idiot Box resonates with Sydneysiders, with Australians, it is an extremely relevant and poignant representation of a culture of boredom and frustration,a culture that lays its blame for this othersat the feet of others. It is not a film that translates well to other cultures.
I've got a poem for ya. No, I can't be bothered.
bombersflyup24 July 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Idiot Box is uninteresting and unfunny.
Realistic unlikable people doing unrealistic things. The ending makes all the build up for nothing, as Kev should've just shot the other bank robbers and started a hostage negotiation as he wanted to go out with a bang anyway. What a dud.
Realistic unlikable people doing unrealistic things. The ending makes all the build up for nothing, as Kev should've just shot the other bank robbers and started a hostage negotiation as he wanted to go out with a bang anyway. What a dud.
entertaining yobbo story with great lines
sofothemofo16 September 2006
i thought this movie was really cool when it came out dark, funny,real. filled with jerks and sensitive people good bad and ugly. Overall still enjoyable. I loved the music i loved jeremy sims and robyn loau. I also thought ben mendelson was awesome in his character. Maybe you don't get Aussie humour. Thats OK But there are lots of others who do! Sure The Boys is good but not as funny and enjoyable as Idiot Box. I would recommend this and Two Hands, and another movie that has bryan Brown and Toni Collette in it its set in the 60s, its very good, not that old, as some beaut Aussie films. plus Shine by Scott Hicks brilliant movie,
Another Stunning Film From The Aussies
danielbr11 August 1999
Idiot Box is a deliberately paced,philosophical and realistic comedy/drama from Australia.
Like many Australian films this is an artistic and original piece of film making with something important to say.If you were thrilled by Bad Boy Bubby's intelligent and insightful script you will be equally pleased by Idiot Box's insightful,realistic and philosophical script.
This film is also written by it's Director. It's David Caesar''s first film and hopefully not his last.Caesar has made a film filled with realistic characters and equally true to life situations and denouements to them.This is a film with great dialogue which amuses and provokes thought.His characters are all well developed and very credible as possible real people.
The story of Idiot Box is about two unemployed losers Kev (Ben Mendelson) and Mick (Jeremy Sims),who one day decided that robbing a bank wouldn't be such a bad idea.The movie deals with the lead up to this possible event and at the same time it is very much a slice of life style film.Like many great Australian film's (e.g. The Well) Idiot Box is able to have it's cake and eat it.By having solid character development and a enjoyable and original story.
The performances are also strong.Ben Mendelson as the explosive and angry Kev is extremely credible never becoming a caricature of his character for a minute.The smarter,slack and philosophical Mick is equally well played by Jeremy Sims.Sims brings to the screen a wonderfully multi-layered character who seems utterly credible.
David Caesar has also brought a sumptuous visual design to his picture making the most of cinema's widescreens.He shows us many lovely panoramic views of the wasteland of Australian suburbia.If this is not seen in the theaters or on video without widescreen much of the film's eloquence and beauty will be lost.
Overall Idiot Box is another powerful and meaningful film from Australia,which excels in all elements of film making.Idiot Box also packs an ending which though in some ways an anti-climax,it is one the truest and credible endings I've seen in film.
4/5
Like many Australian films this is an artistic and original piece of film making with something important to say.If you were thrilled by Bad Boy Bubby's intelligent and insightful script you will be equally pleased by Idiot Box's insightful,realistic and philosophical script.
This film is also written by it's Director. It's David Caesar''s first film and hopefully not his last.Caesar has made a film filled with realistic characters and equally true to life situations and denouements to them.This is a film with great dialogue which amuses and provokes thought.His characters are all well developed and very credible as possible real people.
The story of Idiot Box is about two unemployed losers Kev (Ben Mendelson) and Mick (Jeremy Sims),who one day decided that robbing a bank wouldn't be such a bad idea.The movie deals with the lead up to this possible event and at the same time it is very much a slice of life style film.Like many great Australian film's (e.g. The Well) Idiot Box is able to have it's cake and eat it.By having solid character development and a enjoyable and original story.
The performances are also strong.Ben Mendelson as the explosive and angry Kev is extremely credible never becoming a caricature of his character for a minute.The smarter,slack and philosophical Mick is equally well played by Jeremy Sims.Sims brings to the screen a wonderfully multi-layered character who seems utterly credible.
David Caesar has also brought a sumptuous visual design to his picture making the most of cinema's widescreens.He shows us many lovely panoramic views of the wasteland of Australian suburbia.If this is not seen in the theaters or on video without widescreen much of the film's eloquence and beauty will be lost.
Overall Idiot Box is another powerful and meaningful film from Australia,which excels in all elements of film making.Idiot Box also packs an ending which though in some ways an anti-climax,it is one the truest and credible endings I've seen in film.
4/5
An excellent seriocomic Australian crime caper romp
Woodyanders12 November 2006
Warning: Spoilers
A rip-snortingly good seriocomic Australian crime caper romp about Kev and Mick, who are a couple of slothful, shiftless, luckless, jobless, penniless, hopelessly dumb and perpetually beer-blasted couch potato twentysomething slacker meatheads who are constantly hard up for booze money. The dim-witted duo decide to reverse their misfortune by robbing a bank. Naturally, things don't go as planned, with a rival gang of clown-masked stick-up boys who've been holding up banks all over the city gumming up the works. This delightfully offbeat feature scores a 100% smack dab on the money bull's eye thanks to its engagingly off-kilter sense of raucously wiggy humor, keenly observant feel for and genuine sympathy towards miserably impoverished, just barely scraping by bottom-of-the-socioeconomic-ladder lower-class people, uniformly bang-up acting, fluid photography, and commendably unpredictable loosey-goosey narrative structure. Writer/director David Caesar tells the whole manic story with dynamic, barn-storming panache and punchy, pacy, rat-a-tat-tat bravura style to burn, adroitly pulling off a difficult balancing act of laugh-out-loud uproarious comedy and quietly affecting low-key drama (a subplot concerning the leader of the rival gang needing the stolen loot to support his junkie wife's drug habit proves to be especially poignant). The robbery itself is a marvelously tense and thrilling tour-de-force set piece. Best of all, Ben Mendelsohn as the hostile, dangerously temperamental Kev and Jeremy Simms as Kev's more laid-back, long-suffering bud Mick display a wonderfully edgy and oftentimes downright electric chemistry. While the main characters are unarguable losers, the film overall is a total winner.
Different
paulONeil686 March 2021
Down and out in suburban Australia; worth a look, because it's mildly satisfying.
TheVid25 April 2002
Both the style and content of this film (as previous reviewers have stated) are far from fresh, but I can't be too unkind to a film that at least doesn't pander to the PG-13 crowd with the usual doses of sitcom sensitivity and redemptive moralism. The performances are all well delivered, the look of the film is grimly realistic, and the only obligatory, sensationalistic aspect of the piece is the annoyingly typical song-track music (that gleefully exploits and sells the usual mishmash that adds up to a pop-muzak CD). There's some good dialogue here and some fine widescreen photography for those film enthusiasts who are interested in checking out the DVD release of this decent Aussie indie.
Dumb
bevo-136781 April 2020
Amazing film
sergecornu28 February 2022
Phony, totally unconvincing Aussie suburban angst.
Infofreak4 January 2002
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.
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.
Contrived, Implausible and Stale
Nick_Dets14 January 2004
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.
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.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
