The Night We Called It a Day (2003)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Paul Goldman

Writers:

Peter Clifton (writer)
Michael Thomas (writer)

Release Date:

14 August 2003 (Australia)

Genre:

Biography | Comedy | Drama | Music

Tagline:

This nobody is about to catch a big somebody.

Plot:

Based on the true events surrounding Frank Sinatra's tour of Australia. When Sinatra calls a local reporter a "two-bit hooker", every union in the country black-bans the star until he issues an apology. |

Plot Keywords:

Apology | Frank Sinatra | Best Friend | Rock Concert | Crush

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Dennis Hopper	...	Frank Sinatra
Melanie Griffith	...	Barbara Marx
Portia de Rossi	...	Hilary Hunter
Joel Edgerton	...	Rod Blue
Rose Byrne	...	Audrey Appleby
David Hemmings	...	Mickey Rudin
David Field	...	Bob Hawke
Victoria Thaine	...	Penny
Stephen O'Rourke	...	Jilly Rizzo
Nicholas Hope	...	Phil
George Vidalis	...	Vinny
Peter Demlakian	...	Ruby
Tony Barry	...	Ralph Blue
Vincent Ball	...	Rex Hooper
Jennifer Hagan	...	Doris

Also Known As:

All the Way (USA) (DVD title)
All the Way: The Kidnapping of a Music Legend (USA) (DVD title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong language.

Runtime:

Germany:97 min (Filmfest Hamburg) | Argentina:97 min

Country:

Australia | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

UK:15 | Argentina:13 | Iceland:16 | Finland:K-11 | Netherlands:AL | Australia:M | Singapore:NC-16 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Fox Studios, Moore Park, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Company:

The Night We Called It a Day Pty. Ltd.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: There are a number of anachronisms in the Sydney backdrops, ostensibly set in the 1970s. The most obvious is the catamaran harbour ferry that crosses the screen, in an early night-time shot of the harbour bridge. These were not introduced until 15 years later in 1988.

Quotes:

Frank Sinatra: I have an apology to make. To all the hookers out there, I compared them to the media.

Movie Connections:

References The Godfather (1972)

Soundtrack:

Movin'

A new direction...?

Rod (Edgerton) is a struggling rock promoter based in Sydney, whose successful promotions of various rock acts, including Black Sabbath and Billy Thorpe, have been outweighed by his financial unreliability and unsteadiness. When he learns that Frank Sinatra (Hopper) might be interested in touring Australia, Rod flies to Los Angeles in an attempt to convince the singer to do so. It works, but Sinatra's ingratious and deeply offensive nature makes him unpopular with so-called ‘ordinary Australians' after a particular confrontation with a self-obsessed glamour reporter (de Rossi) leads to his making comments denigrating the Australian press. The press retaliates and the ACTU takes up the issue, led by president and future Prime Minister Bob Hawke (Field). Meanwhile, Rod and his recently employed assistant (Byrne) are left in the lurch – and deeply out of pocket – by an Australia-wide feud.

Arguably the most popular Australian film of 2003 could have had stiff competition from the likes of TakeAway, Bad Eggs and Ned Kelly had they been in the same league. Strikingly political, it traverses across a terrain mainstream film in this country has been unwilling, or unable, to broach for some time. Controversial (but probably accurate) in its depiction of Sinatra, alluding to his alleged connections with mob activity in the United States, it also presents a left-wing discourse with a young Hawke, played wonderfully over-the-top by David Field, leading the charge for the working classes against a figure that represents everything egalitarian Australia is not. For his part, Dennis Hopper, whose own personal history has not exactly been uncontroversial, is remarkable in this film, and expertly portrays Sinatra's multi-faceted and very complex character, well directed by Goldman, who has elected not to stay away from a certain amount of controversy after his brilliant but ill-conceived Australian Rules. Byrne, who also appeared in concurrent releases TakeAway and The Rage in Placid Lake, is simply too good to continue to take these female supporting / love interest roles; after The Goddess of 1967, one feels her future lies overseas, with stronger parts in higher-budget independent films; she has already been ‘discovered' in such circles in Britain. The lack of strong female roles in recent Australian mainstream films is indeed a concern, and provides a disturbing parallel to a similar problem in Hollywood.