Monkey Grip

I have not seen this movie, but I read somewhere that, much to everyone's surprise, Christina Amphlett (lead singer for the Divinyls who also recorded the soundtrack to the film) received a Best Supporting Actress nomination (Aussie Oscars?) for her performance in this film. It's unfortunate that she never acted in another film after that, and that this was her first and last showing. I would have been curious to see what she might have done with an acting career. Particularly since the Divinyls never really got their due respect. :( Anyway, this is definitely on my list to see (if I can find it!) PS - I first saw her perform musically at the US festival in 1983, their debut tour. Amazing!

Noni Hazlehurst, Colin Friels, Alice Garner, Chrissie Amphlett and Michael Caton- what more could you ask for? Monkey Grip based on the prize winning novel of the same name explores Nora (Hazlehurst, a single mother falling for a heroin addict Jobe (Friels). A simple story is made truly extraordinary through the all round magnificent acting (in particular Noni Hazlehurst) and nice use of the small budget. The only flaw is (if you can pick it up) is that the story is set in Melbourne, although for budget reasons, the film was mainly shot in Sydney, so as a result, in a few scenes you see trams (Melbourne scenes) and then a Carlton post office (Sydney scenes). Other than that, "Monkey Grip" is a must see (excuse the clique, but it is) at least for an award winning performance from former "Play School" and "Better Homes & Gardens" presenter Noni Hazlehurst.

10/10

This is a very interesting film. It is taken from a novel that won a prestigious prize. Can I admit that I really enjoyed this film, while admitting that nothing _really_ happens? There are no car chases, or gun-fights. I don't even think I remember any fist-fights. Nora and her daughter meet and interact with interesting, intelligent, troubled people in Australia in the seventies.

Nora is under-employed in the alternative music business. Her main squeeze (Colin Friels) is under-employed as a sometime actor in small theatre. She shares a number of households with other single parents. She tries to raise her kid, and still have some self-fulfilment.

Let me warn you, don't make the mistake of inviting people over to watch this film with you, without warning them to ignore the blurb on the video-box. The last time I rented this film I invited a bunch of people over to watch a double bill: the Merchant-Ivory film "Slaves of New York" and "Monkey Grip". Everyone enjoyed SONY. But everyone left without watching MG. After they left I took a look at the box. It made MG sound like a porno movie. It described Colin Friels character, the heroine's main squeeze, as "sexually volcanic" whatever that means. BS of course. And the blurb writer omits the much more interesting item that he is a junkie. Very embarrassing. In truth MG wasn't any more erotic than Slaves of New York.

What a dog of a movie. Noni Hazelhurst's performance is quite good, but it sits amidst a jungle of abhorrent scriptwriting, mediocre direction and wooden acting from the bulk of the cast. Many of the characters are woefully miscast, particularly the ever overrated Colin Friels.

Very little works in this pretentious garbage. Much of the "character development" is done through a silly, angst-ridden voice over and frequently completely contradicts the behaviour of characters on-screen. In fact, it's hard to even figure out who the voice overs are talking about because they describe such different characters to who we see on screen! How are we meant to know Colin Friels (Javo) is meant to be an erratic, violent and unreliable junkie? One of these silly voice overs tells us. For crying out loud, the nature of his character is half the point of the movie and the only thing that lets us know is a flippin' voice over! The real killer is the characters. Everything about them. Their clothes are perfectly maintained and look fresh from the rack, despite the fact we are constantly reminded they are meant to be artsy paupers. They are all absurdly well-spoken for "junkies". None seem to have any real comprehension of life on the skids or on smack and yet this is meant to be the case with most of them.

Monkey Grip deserves no more attention than a weekday TV movie matinée. Crud like this, perfectly well shot and technically presented, but a cliché-driven angsty drama that shoots so wide of being plausible and meanders about for hours without really going anywhere. At least Noni gets down to her birthday suit at every given opportunity. There's no other sane reason to endure this junk.

I definitely recommend reading the book prior to watching the film. This book won National Book Council Award in 1978 and is a very gripping read (pun not intended). It's not too difficult to read for those out there that don't read often so don't be afraid! The book seems to capture the passion of the relationships more so than the movie and the movie will make more sense after reading the book. Having grown up in Melbourne I could really relate to this book and movie. Very few Australian female writers were around the in the 70's therefore very little is documented about the way of life for a women in an urban city in Australia during this era or class. It's a precious piece of Melbourne history. It's a shame that it is documented as some sort of 80's soft porn movie. It's far from that and as the other reviewer has mentioned please do not read the DVD jacket, it does not represent what the movie is about at all. Those that rent the movie based on this description will only be disappointed. Just remember this movie was made in 1982, so don't expect the Hollywood over dramatization that they seem to incorporate these days. This is what I like about it. It's also great seeing Noni Hazlehurst in this role, she is just fantastic as Nora and it's great watching her really acting, for if you're close to my age you will best remember her for her stints on Playschool and Better Homes and Gardens. Who knew she hid this talent? This movie will give you an entirely new impression of her. A classic Australian Story!