Movie review – “Muggers” (1999) **

Black Aussie comedy which reminded me in an odd way of The Honourable Wally Norman – like that, it has a well-structured script with all the stuff you’re supposed to have (protagonists, antagonists, complications, romance, set up, pay off, different acts) but you don’t care. It just sort of lies there. Maybe it’s because black comedy needs a whiff of madness about it to work and this doesn’t have it. Maybe it doesn’t push the envelope in the way, say, Little Shop of Horrors does. Maybe the twists are a bit flat: love interest turns out to be a hooker, the uni nurse is involved in an opposing racket, etc. Decent cast; Nicola Charles goes topless for a sex scene, which is a bit of a thrill for those Neighbours fans from the 90s (actually she’s quite funny - it’s a shame her part isn’t bigger).