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29 reviews in total

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29 out of 35 people found the following review useful:
Different strokes for different folks, 10 March 2012

Author: Mark Thatcher from Australia

Funny isn't it how one film can illicit such varied responses from different people? But of course those who dislike it most yell the loudest - yes I'm looking at you nicakpopolis and co - I'm sorry that you're so smart and the rest of the audience who were laughing are such idiots. Truly. Just because you didn't like a movie, it doesn't make the rest of us fools. Ego out of control. And if you didn't even watch the whole thing (chrisliz) then you probably shouldn't review it. And if you didn't like the trailer why would you see it anyway!? Aren't people funny? Anyway I reckon this movie is OK. It doesn't pretend to be anything it isn't. If you're after a bit of laugh out loud escapism this is for you (and if it isn't...stay at home or see something else and save us all from having to read your bile ridden comments). Cheers mark

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28 out of 38 people found the following review useful:
A laugh out loud comedy from start to finish., 10 January 2012

Author: kca73 from United Kingdom

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Previewed at the Rome film festival. Even given the fact that festival films are usually pretty poor - and you are grateful for anything average - A Few Best Men is hilarious. Olivia Newton John (and, no, she's not 'nearly 70' reviewer No 1, but 63) delivers a stand-out performance as an elegant mother of the bride and Brit' actor Kris Marshall brings a smile to the face every time he's on screen. It's a sharp script, slapstick at times, and sums up the mood of a contemporary expensive wedding. Why there has been a recent fashion of having three best men to a wedding - and I've been to several in recent years - I don't know. But the writer exploits the situation and also the clash of cultures between Britain and Australia. Good performances all round, some very funny scenes and a realism which works in comedy. I can be a miserable film-watcher and have walked out of plenty. But this brightened my week.

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14 out of 15 people found the following review useful:
A slow build, but worth waiting for, 21 March 2012

Author: superted2707 from United Kingdom

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I have to quickly start by saying that if you're not going to watch an entire movie you shouldn't be writing a review; it doesn't benefit anybody.

This film started badly; it was cliché'd, predictably written and the acting was average at best. I got 20 minutes in and nearly gave up. I'm glad I stayed though, because this film snowballs in to a hilarious treat with utter chaos brimming out of every scene in the third act. It's not that you didn't see it coming, because you usually do, but that you weren't expecting it to all come at once! There's a perfect moment with the groom party, a gun and an unconscious sheep that is funnier than any single part of the Hangover, though taken as a whole it falls a little short.

If you're expecting to be knocked out by a sensitive, provocative and intelligent drama then you'll be disappointed, but not every film should cater to the highest common denominator. If you've got 138 minutes to kill and feel like laughing at something preposterous then you could do a lot worse than this.

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16 out of 21 people found the following review useful:
Colourful British wit makes light of black Aussie humour, 22 January 2012

Author: Marmaduke90 from Australia

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

On a tropical holiday David (Xavier Samuel) meets an Australian girl named Mia (Laura Brent) and they quickly fall in love. At a surprise party back home in the UK, David tells his three mates that he and Mia are getting married in Australia. The lads are unhappy about this because they don't want to lose him and also because they'll have to fly over there. They're an odd bunch. Tom (Kris Marshall) doesn't want to grow up. Graham (Kevin Bishop) is always pushed around by the other lads and Luke (Tim Draxl) is miserable, trying to win his ex-girlfriend back. The men arrive in Australia and are at the mercy of Mia's strict father Jim (Jonathan Biggins) and his wife Barbara (Olivia Newtown-John). Jim is a wealthy senator, looking to impress his contacts with the lavish wedding but is frequently at odds with his other daughter Daphne (Rebel Wilson), who may or may not be a lesbian. The lads find themselves in trouble when they try purchasing some marijuana from a drug dealer with emotional problems and also when they have a crazy night together, the day before the wedding. They wake up to find they've been tormenting Jim's prized campaign sheep.

Colourful British wit makes light of black Aussie humour, burying memories of awful local comedies from the early millennium. The film is an Australian-UK coproduction. It was directed by an Australian, Stephan Elliott, but written by Dean Craig, the same Brit who penned Death at a Funeral (2007). That was another film I greatly enjoyed and this is a similar mixture of genres. It combines fish out of water with comedic farce, along with setups from countless other films. It is impossible not to recall the likes of Death at a Funeral and even The Hangover (2009). Yet the essential ingredients for a great movie on its own rights have not been forgotten. This is the funniest Australian film I have seen in years. What's important here is how the comedy is played out. The lads here are fools and regularly make a meal out of everything they touch. Yet you can't bring yourself to hate them because we understand they're out of their depth in a foreign environment, both geographically and class-wise too. And this might just be my own jet- black sense of humour talking but there is something immensely appealing to watch and listen to with self-depreciative humour. The lads in this movie are gifted comedians. They know how to keep a straight face as they poke fun of themselves, their social problems and eccentricities. I enjoyed the film enormously for this reason, the lack of winking, but also the variety of comedy too. On top of the rapid quips between the men and their jabs at each other, there are some delicious sight gags too. The film never makes a huge point of them, so look sharply for a picture of the Queen wearing Joker makeup, or the face of an airline passenger after Graham tries to defend his Hitler moustache. I enjoy comedy when it speaks for itself and lets us read the jokes without any help. By far my favourite scene is, I think, when Graham has to give an unprepared best man speech and is so high that he spends the whole time talking about something indescribable.

The silences of the guests and the way the camera scans the reaction of their faces is just hysterical. Screenwriter Dean Craig employs a lot of the same farce-like comedy from Death at a Funeral, with people behind doors, o r moving in and out of rooms secretively. The material is reused cleverly because director Elliott gives us a complete overview of the impending chaos. Take the scene where the boys are trying to attend to the sheep they've tormented. The camera cuts to the corridor outside the room, providing vision of who is about to walk in on them. Just like the wedding speech scene, they know how to really build the tension and extend the jokes. The comedy works because there's a lot at stake. Just when you think a giant ball crushing the wedding is the craziest the film can become, you're wrong: it continues to reach new levels of insanity. For as well constructed as a lot of the film is, some of the editing is noticeably choppy. Snippets of scenes sometimes feel out of place, or interrupt confrontations and could have been removed altogether. This is a small complaint that most people won't notice and its mostly in the first half too. For all of this film's lunacy, and there's a lot, the tension comes from characters that have resemblance of actual feelings. David is a sympathetic lead because he's torn between his mates, his only real family we learn, and a far more prestige life that he is trying to adapt to. I particularly liked it when he and Mia started questioning how little they know about each other. It's a sensible turning point. The lovable lads are very distinctive and funny with their sets of problems but they share some of the laughs with the women too. I particularly liked Olivia Newton-John as the mother with a wild side. This gem of a film was absolutely delightful and I sincerely hope its quality is indicative of all Australian films this year.

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10 out of 11 people found the following review useful:
A Nutshell Review: A Few Best Men, 12 June 2012

Author: DICK STEEL from Singapore

You meet the girl of your dreams, and with the feeling being mutual, decide to fast track the romance into marriage. It's one of the big decisions in life, and so you engage some help from your pals, who happen to be some of the most disorganized bunch ever, unintentionally lining up what would be one of life's most memorable events with a series of mishaps and accidents that are just waiting to happen, from run ins with drug dealers, abuse of drugs and drink, and an animal featured somewhere as well. No this is not The Hangover films, although at first glance A Few Best Men may seem to tread on similar territory.

Unlike the American films that focus on extreme shenanigans, A Few Best Men may deal with similar wedding blues in comedic fashion, but was rather a bit more restrained in its grossness, although toilet humour is something staple that is never too far away and utilized when there's a need to for maximum effect. This Australian production follows a more British route with witty repartee, and quirky, zany characters peppering the landscape, with probably the only sane people in the entire film being the groom David (Xavier Samuel) and his bride Mia (Laura Brent).

The titular characters refer to David's best mates Tom (Kris Marshall) who's usually the catalyst of problems with his indifferent attitude, Graham (Kevin Bishop) the somewhat dim witted follower, and Luke (Tim Draxi) who still can't get over the break up with his ex. Together they lend support to David as his best men for his wedding, making that round the world trip from England to Australia. Mia on the other hand comes from a political family, with a senator for a dad in Jim (Jonathan Biggins) whose more than proud to turn his daughter's wedding into political gain, wife Barbara (Olivia Newton-John, probably the largest name in this ensemble), and sister Daphne (Rebel Wilson last seen in What To Expect When You're Expecting). With worlds so different colliding together, sparks fly in similar, slowly but surely fashion to Meet the Fockers, with a scene being somewhat of a lift off The Hangover when the stag's night out turned into one big blur.

A Few Best Men sees the long awaited return by director Stephan Elliott, who did the acclaimed Priscilla Queen of the Desert. And I have to admit unabashedly that I'm somewhat of a fan of writer Dean Craig's work, after what he did with Death at a Funeral, dealing with something similar with family and friends' shenanigans standing out during life's ceremonies, and in a way this film seemed like a spiritual companion to his earlier work for the way it encompassed rip tickling moments over one of life's major rituals. It's basically Murphy's Law put on display here, with everything that can go wrong actually do go wrong, with a couple of surprise (some may argue convenient) twists thrown in for good measure.

The soundtrack is also noteworthy in the film, consisting of mostly evergreens and oldies from the 60s and 70s, and having Olivia Newton-John lend her vocals as well. In fact, her character becomes what would be the live wire of the film as it wore on, together with Kris Marshall and Kevin Bishop drawing the loudest of laughs thanks to their subplot involving their quest for weed from which everything got intricately tied to no thanks to their being stuck with contraband drugs, and being quite inept in helping the groom settle and solve the mess they got everyone into.

If one is game for ensemble films and buddy type ones where the inevitably lessons extracted will be themes on brotherhood, friendship and family, with lots of laughs thrown in from good measure, then A Few Best Men would be your choice this week during the summer season breather in between blockbusters hitting the cinemas. Highly recommended!

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13 out of 21 people found the following review useful:
Wasn't the worst movie I've ever watched, 22 March 2012

Author: sylent1-9-193639 from United States

I usually like Brit humor and, to be honest, movies that make me cringe I don't usually find entertaining. Other than the most vomitous soundtrack I have ever subjected my ears to this was NOT as bad as some reviewers have indicated. I don't know why someone that is offended by low brow humor would even watch this kind of comedy. And I find it a LITTLE bit pretentious to expect this movie to be Henry James. For what it was it wasn't too bad. It was predictable in places and , I confess to cringing more than once, but I didn't expect some esoteric mind numbing voyage when I watched the movie and in that I wasn't disappointed. As one reviewer said it wasn't "Death at a Funeral" but I don't feel I have wasted hours of my life.

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13 out of 22 people found the following review useful:
Almost gets there as a comedy but not quite, 31 January 2012

Author: rayclister from Australia

It is good to see that Australia is returning to the comedy idiom after such a long absence since Muriel's Wedding and Priscilla going back to the early 90's Having said that although I found it quite amusing the first half an hour was a bit flat and until it got into the silliness that most of the comedy consisted of it did not hit the mark. Olivia Newton John surprises in a comedy performance as mother of the bride and it was good to see this Australian icon back on the big screen. The absurdity of some of the situations that unfold is certainly reminiscent of Death at a Funeral but falls short of that comedy gem. Nevertheless it is worth going to see and has more laughs than some American so called comedies

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4 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
Poor start, but cracking finish, 6 September 2012

Author: Neil Welch from United Kingdom

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

English David (Xavier Samuel) meets Australian Mia (Laura Brent) on holiday: they fall in love and, by the time he arrives home, they are engaged. So orphan David goes to his wedding, at Mia's enormous house in the Blue Mountains (Laura's Dad is a Senator) accompanied by his three best friends and family substitutes Tom (Kris Marshall, a glib, super-confident chancer, Graham (Kevin Bishop, awkward, graceless, and socially inept) and Luke (Tim Draxl, raw and bordering on suicidal from a recent romantic break-up). All would probably have been well had Tom not taken a small detour to buy some weed, and had Graham not accidentally acquired the dealer's stock of cocaine...

The small amount of advance word here was not good, and I found the early parts of the film irritating and filled with "Well, he just wouldn't do that" stuff - why does David walk in the pouring rain from Trafalgar Square to St Paul's (at least half an hour) carrying his Polynesian carving on his way home? Why didn't he just get a bus nearer to where he lived? He wouldn't walk in through his front door with dog mess still on the sole of his sandal, he'd scrape it off outside. He wouldn't throw his wet shirt over there etc. etc. And the characters were annoyingly clichéd - could anyone be as stupid as Graham? And Luke's maudlin whingeing about his ex-girlfriend left no room for any other characterisation at all. Then factor in the idiotic detour to buy drugs, which I couldn't envision anyone doing on the eve of their best friend's wedding, and I'm a third of the way through the movie having chuckled a few times, but with any amusement far outweighed by irritation. Next we meet a comedy drug dealer, and Mia's dad Jim, a cliché bullying Dad who regards the wedding as more important for its networking opportunities than for what it means for his daughter, and I'm even more annoyed (to be fair, there has been a moderate amount of laughter from the audience, most of whom were much younger than me).

But at this point we also meet Rebel Wilson as Mia's sister Daphne, and Olivia, Newton and John as mum Barbara, and things begin to look up. The wedding morning consequences of the stag night shenanigans are genuinely amusing, and I'm starting to warm to the film. In true farce manner, actions have consequences, and those consequences have further consequences, and things start to unravel. Graham ends up in the position of having to give the best man's speech, a role to which he is spectacularly unsuited, and this sequence left me helpless with laughter as he reels from one faux pas to another, each one being worse than the one which preceded it. From here to the end, the film lurched through a series of disasters, some physical, some situational, some character-based, most of them tasteless, and nearly all of them very funny indeed.

Rebel Wilson is naturally very funny, and it was a delight to see Olivia, Newton and John (ageing most attractively) joyfully attacking areas which Grease's Sandy, even in black leather, would have been far too prim to address.

After an unconvincing opening, this film made me laugh out loud more than any movie I can remember for a long time, and that is what I take away with me.

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5 out of 7 people found the following review useful:
A Laugh Out Loud Brit Ausie Hit..., 28 August 2012

Author: M De Storm (marcusdestorm@gmail.com) from United Kingdom

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

David and Mia meet whilst on a summer holiday in Cancun, fall in love and suddenly decide to get married. On his return from the holiday, David tells his long-time best friends Tom, Graham and Luke, who are all up for a good wedding and party with free booze, until David reveals that the wedding will be held at Mia's' parents' house – in Australia. The friends are livid and try and talk their best friend out of making the worst mistake of his life, until David informs them all that they can go to the wedding. Now only one thing needs to be decided, who is going to be the Best Man? Taking off for Australia to meet up with his Bride-to-be, David is told to travel with Mia, while his friends take a detour to see a pre-planned contact who lives out in the middle of nowhere for some marijuana.

Now Tom has a problem (a series of problems actually) of getting into trouble back in the UK, and Australia is no different than back home… except Australia is a much bigger place. An attractive Bride's mother in the house makes Tom's blood burn with desire, while his attempts at purchasing narcotics brings the wedding celebrations well into question… Will David marry Mia? Will Mia marry David? And, more to the point, where did Mia's Father's prize Sheep Ramsey disappear to?

A Few Best Men is a very funny and vibrant film. At the same time it is a comedy with a difference that could be placed as a "Breath of Fresh Air" by anyone and everyone watching it. The whole cast is a misfit group that would never be seen anywhere in the world, not even Manchester, who all keep things together in a tight ship operation. David Xavier Samuel who plays the responsible guy has the power to keep everyone on the straight and narrow, to pull in the sails once in a while so that the other three best friends have a guideline of sorts. But what happens when David is without a guideline? His friends become separated in Mind, Body and Soul – therefore the actions, the results and repercussions of these misfits surfaces like a fart in the depths of the ocean wanting to find freedom of the open air.

Tom (Kris Marshall) becomes the "Stiffler and Finch" of the English kind, drug fuelled, drunken monkey boy, wacked out necessity to any mishap, misshaped, misinterpreted and misguided movie the world over – and then some. His ability to mess things up in the UK are duly noted, but to mess them up in Australia, and especially on David's best day of his life, he knows only too well that there would be no such forgiveness given.

Our decision to give "A Few Best Men" an 8.9 tells the viewer one thing, and that is we were very surprised (But not really) with Kris' part in this film, especially as the developed soul he acquired for acting while in "My Family" seemed to boost him quite a lot. And for him to be acting alongside one of Australia's hottest actresses in history of musicals – Sultry Olivia Newton John – I bet even Finch would be writhing with jealousy.

If you are out at the cinema and you're looking for a good, solid and funny movie, then this is the one for you. It is a truly crafted piece of work, with plenty of the various helpings for everyone, which will make you're night, and why not? The film is from Director of "Priscilla Queen of the Desert" and the Writer and Producers of "Death At A Funeral" (UK Version), so you can be rest assured that there will be laughs, there will be tears and there will be a little tongue-in-cheek controversy – after all, it does have a Sheep in it that has its name on the end credits. Enjoy. Review by The DVD Archive.

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3 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Maybe I saw a different movie?, 24 September 2012

Author: davidfurlotte from Canada

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

I just finished watching this movie and was not going to put a review up here but after reading some of the more vitriolic reviews I decided this movie needed a counter to the nastier reviews posted on here about it.

***** Oh Yes, there will be spoilers ***** Where to begin? Firstly the premise of the movie is great. Guy meets girl while on vacation, falls madly in love and by the end of it decides to propose. She of course, accepts, otherwise the movie would not have been made.

THEN, We meet the "family" of the groom to be who happens to be probably the most immature but lovable group of friends that anyone could have.

Now we have a clash of cultures and a clash of class when the friends and groom meet the family. Old world England meets New world ex-colony Australia and working class meets the very rich and powerful. If that alone is not enough to cause some consternation we simply add to the mix by having the boys get into circumstances that albeit might have been in their control at first, quickly get out of control.

To the one reviewer that was upset because there was a sheep being "violated" in the movie, get a grip, it's a movie, I'm PRETTY sure that the actor did NOT truly have his arm up some sheep's behind and they didn't really feed the sheep any laxatives.

What makes this movie funny and crazy at the same time is that you can actually think that the various "fixes" to the problems the boys are coming up with are bona fide and you sit there watching it thinking that it's not such a crazy idea. i.e. lowering a sheep out of a 2nd story window with a harness of bedsheets so the guests at the front of the house don't get a chance to see it.

All in all, the movie didn't get me laughing so hard that tears were flowing but it did make me chuckle aloud more than a few times and I did truly feel sorry for poor David who was just trying to get through his wedding day unscathed.

Other than telegraphing a few of the punchlines, I highly recommend this movie to anyone who wants to have a few laughs.

On a final note, I personally did not see anything in this movie that could be considered "racist" in any way, shape or form. I do not think any less of my British or Australian friends after watching this movie so I really don't understand what you are trying to allude to with your comment that this movie was racist.

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