An impossible film to dislike, made with real heart and love, and based on a very strong idea - a big stakes back yard cricket comp. It also gets novelty points for being shot in Wagga Wagga, not one of the famously pretty Australian towns - though oddly the movie doesn't exploit what physical assets the town does have: for instance, there's no scenes by the river, or those lovely rickety bridges in the area, or the hills and farm land.
The always likeable Andrew Gilbert is excellent in the lead role, the man who challenges his Pommy neighbour to a big game of backyard cricket. I also really like the actors who played his mates, including the ever reliable John Wood.
The neighbour is played by Felix Williamson in hammy 1930s style, like he stepped out of a Beaumont Smith film - he threw the movie out of balance for me, as did the lips of his wife (I don't mean to be nasty, but they were very distracting). It's like Gilbert and Williamson are in two different movies - one naturalistic and homespun, the over broad and campy.
It's beautifully shot and has some great moments, such as Williamson and Gilbert having a beer as the sun goes down, and the fate of the cat is genuinely hilarious. The script is a weak point - characters aren't really differentiated, the movie cries out for a romance subplot (I kept expecting the video taping son to do this, or Gilbert's single mate, but we never see it), it's irritating how all the women folk sip on lemonade and watch the men play, the cat joke is referred to one time too many, the set up conflict of Williamson causing someone to lose his job feels contrived. But it has a massive heart and I'm glad it's done so well.
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