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| | Unpopular Populism, or The Decline and Fall of the Little Aussie Battler: Notes on Australian Film Comedy in 2003 |
 | | Molloy does a toned-down version of his usual blokey schtick, but still seems to be parodying his own lack of acting subtlety, self-consciously an amateur giving it a burl; Franklin, an eternal second banana, is facetiously closed in on himself and mournful, like Eeyore from Winnie-the-Pooh. |
 | | If the film has an emotional centre, it's in the relationship between Molloy's character and Judith Lucy as his ex-girlfriend: the warmth between the pair feels authentic, and Lucy's usual whining performance style is so monotonous it's a startling pleasure to see her express any feeling beyond sarcastic disenchantment. |
 | | At the end of the film, after the crime plot is resolved, we see the pair celebrating in their apartment by cracking open a bottle of champagne and dancing to a Sinatra recording; as the song ends, Martin pans across to the city skyline, leaving them to their idyll. |
| www.sensesofcinema.com /contents/03/29/australian_comedy.html (1881 words) |
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