I was very happy to find this awesome film on DVD for $10 yesterday. I hadn't seen it for ages but I knew that buying it would result in many happy viewings in the future. My first viewing reinforced my view that this film is just as terrific and engaging as I saw it when I was a young fella. The whole gadgetry was what I loved back then. Now I still love the gadgets but the whole story makes it a terrific viewing experience.
The three main performances from the film are all unreal. Colin Friels is so great as the awkward and brilliant Malcolm, John Hargraves is super as the dodgy but good hearted crim and Lindy Davies is wonderful as Judith. She is sexy and straightforward in a really honest way that is rarely captured in any film (kinda reminds me of Rachel Griffiths).
Big plaudits have to go to the writing/producing/directing team of David Parker and Nadia Tass. The info contained on the DVD explains to us that the Malcolm character was based on Tass's brother John who was, like Malcolm, socially inept but had formidable intelligence and talent. The final character is so likable. The fact that they put the whole thing together speaks very highly of them as a film-making team (another terrific film they did was "The Big Steal").
They did a great job on the special effects too. Low budget but iconic really. The car, tram, rubbish bins (!) are brilliant. The film's opening with the tram also highlights the very special score of the film. Watching Malcolm cruise around Melbourne in his homemade tram with the music in the background is a really lovely way to open the movie.
It's been years since there has been a funny, innovative, big-hearted Australian film like this (or The Big Steal). Hopefully someone out there can match it.
