(SOME SPOILERS) Jonathan Teplitzky's follow-up to 'Better Than Sex' (2000) tackles the caper/heist genre in 'Gettin' Square', and for the most part, it's fairly entertaining to watch. One story revolves around Barry Wirth (Sam Worthington), a wrongly convicted ex-criminal who has just been released to look after his younger brother, Joey (Luke Pegler). Barry plans to stay on the straight and narrow (i.e. get square), and is assisted by the sexy parole officer in Annie Flynn (Freya Stafford), but is dogged by dodgy Detective DeViers (David Field), and his old criminal buddy in Chicka Martin (Gary Sweet) who wants to recruit him again. The other story revolves around Darren Barrington (Timothy Spall), a struggling English restaurant owner in the Gold Coast. He, too, is on the straight and narrow after being in the criminal business, but his past catches up with him when the Police start investigating his previous finances.
Then enter Johnny "Spit" Spitieri (David Wenham), a daggy not-so-intelligent flip-flop wearing ex-con, who also wants to "get square", but unfortunately his heroin addiction is holding him back. He ties the two stories together as he is key evidence to Darren's financial woes, and Barry wants to help get onto his feet. Spit gets Barry a job in Darren's restaurant, where he shines with his cooking skills. Unfortunately for Spit, the investigators and the criminal underworld catch up with him and it's up to Barry and Darren to maybe take a risk to help them, and ultimately themselves from the people that dog them- by doing one last job.
All in all, this is an entertaining romp. As others have said, David Wenham is the best thing in the movie, which is weird, cause he was the worst thing in 'Van Helsing' (2004). Wenham's scenes in 'Gettin' Square' are not only the funniest, but his character is just so typically clueless and endearing. I'm sure many Aussies can relate to his sort. Spall is a welcome addition in this movie, and so is Gary Sweet. Worthington conveys the right persona for the distant morally right ex-con, but he has no real comic ability, and his character never seems too cornered, or conveys the sense of urgency that the story implies! Overall, the film is fairly predictable, but I liked its style and a few scenes are quite memorable- especially the courtroom scene with Spit, and the heist itself. Some of the jokes don't work, but others do sufficiently enough. It's has a nicely timed script with decent dialogue, and the editing is smooth! Worth checking out if you liked 'Two Hands' and 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels', and thankfully, it does borrow too heavily from those two. It stands on its own as a film about ex-cons trying their best too stay straight, but when push comes to shove ! Anyway, you get the idea! Check out this fun Aussie flick! ***½ out of *****!
Then enter Johnny "Spit" Spitieri (David Wenham), a daggy not-so-intelligent flip-flop wearing ex-con, who also wants to "get square", but unfortunately his heroin addiction is holding him back. He ties the two stories together as he is key evidence to Darren's financial woes, and Barry wants to help get onto his feet. Spit gets Barry a job in Darren's restaurant, where he shines with his cooking skills. Unfortunately for Spit, the investigators and the criminal underworld catch up with him and it's up to Barry and Darren to maybe take a risk to help them, and ultimately themselves from the people that dog them- by doing one last job.
All in all, this is an entertaining romp. As others have said, David Wenham is the best thing in the movie, which is weird, cause he was the worst thing in 'Van Helsing' (2004). Wenham's scenes in 'Gettin' Square' are not only the funniest, but his character is just so typically clueless and endearing. I'm sure many Aussies can relate to his sort. Spall is a welcome addition in this movie, and so is Gary Sweet. Worthington conveys the right persona for the distant morally right ex-con, but he has no real comic ability, and his character never seems too cornered, or conveys the sense of urgency that the story implies! Overall, the film is fairly predictable, but I liked its style and a few scenes are quite memorable- especially the courtroom scene with Spit, and the heist itself. Some of the jokes don't work, but others do sufficiently enough. It's has a nicely timed script with decent dialogue, and the editing is smooth! Worth checking out if you liked 'Two Hands' and 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels', and thankfully, it does borrow too heavily from those two. It stands on its own as a film about ex-cons trying their best too stay straight, but when push comes to shove ! Anyway, you get the idea! Check out this fun Aussie flick! ***½ out of *****!