Walk the Talk

It's awful.

Pretty succinct review I know, but it has been a long time since a film has left me in such a bewildered state - wondering how the hell a film like that gets made.

The last time it happened was last years turkey 'Mission to Mars'.

Salvatore Coco is an ex-con - trying to better himself through self help videos, endless seminars and betterment courses. He lives by the catchphrases these courses expound.

He stumbles across a washed up nightclub singer, played by Nikki Bennett, and has an epiphany; his new career is going to be that of a talent agent - with the singer as his one and only client.

Financed by his gospel singing, paraplegic girlfriend, played by Sasha Horler - he sets up shop and tries to relaunch Nikki's career, with disastarous results.

'Walk the Talk' is the reason why Australians are so contemptuous of Australian cinema. It is poorly constructed, lame and way wayyy too long (111 minutes for a comedy that should barely have scraped the 80 minute mark).

Every scene is too long, and are very repetitive. The audience is not given a character to empathise with; a vital ingredient in a film like this supposedly about an 'underdog' giving it a go.

The downbeat and frankly poor ending comes at the end of 30 minutes of the most mind numbing dialogue and scenes that have you crying out for a power failure.

This film is a failure on all levels - made worse for Queensland audiences by its liberal and innacurate use of various Gold Coast/Palm Beach location; and its laughable use of Brisbane suburb names like Norman Park and Caboolture.

Joe Grasso knows all the hype and nonsense of business, but is flogging the wrong product, a neverwas club singer with a lot of baggage. Sacha Horler as Bonita proves she is an ace actor. Some probs with the script however as Joe's verbosity needs to be contained. Perhaps this movie should be cut with compassion and intelligence. Ten minutes shorter could be good news. Still it's a good movie!

Time line of the film: * Laugh * Laugh * Laugh * Smirk * Smirk * Yawn * Look at watch * walk out * remember funny parts at the beginning * smirk

Unfortunately, this movie has a good concept that it grinds to the ground.

Joey Grasso is a hero in his own mind, and nothing will stop him getting her way. Some people might say it's so stupid- it's funny, but it's an enjoyable watch, just for the sake of the story. A "Dodgy" character quite a lot of Australians would identify with,, whether a close relative or even themselves, tries to make someone's dreams come true. While not expecting an epic- even though there are a few big names in the colorful cast,(which was a bonus);i found it had a good chemistry between the characters, and a down to Earth realism. I found myself living his despair at times as this film hit the nail on the head for so many people's familiar life experiences. Salvatore's persistence keep it going the distance. Well done!!

The protagonist in a movie as arrogant and selfish as this - among several other characteristics of a jerk to the core - is not a desirable, nor is it a common approach writers are keen to take. However like most quirky-like films, we are set up for something more. The suspicion of something significant happening is subtly fed throughout the film and bonus points are awarded for its not-so-typical protagonist, and when the storyline comes to a full circle. Although the fact that the movie finally ended could have been bonus points itself!

Unless it's for personal entertainment, would not recommend any writers approaching a story in film this way again though. We can only be irritated so much by a character that some people may be pushed to the brink of acting in the most insulting way possible: watching something else.