Love in Limbo

Just picked this up in a sale bin on DVD and mighty glad I did. I wasn't expecting too much, but I was taken by surprise by how good it is. In one sense it's a typical teen coming-of-age movie, but it has a really good script with several interweaving plotlines which all work, held together by excellent performances from the three teen leads, plus the adults (particularly Mum)and some good supporting performances. It captures the spirit of the fifties well, with a superb soundtrack plus a cameo appearance from R&B legend Little Willie Littlefield (and an excerpt from the classic rock'n'roll movie The Girl Can't Help It). Above all it's funny, particularly the sequence when the boys finally get to the brothel in Kalgoorlie, only to have the working girls practically go on strike just as they think they're finally about to taste the delights of sex! Although better known as a producer, David Elfick directs with finesse and the gaudy fifties decor fits the bill exactly. This has to be one of the best movies of its kind, and I shall be watching my DVD a lot.

Cant believe it.... after all these years finally tracked this down.. it was meant to be named 'The Great Pretender' at production stage. I was living in Oz at time and through a friend was looking after one of the house locations through filming.... It was me that showed these guys how to speak Scottish and after all this time, I only realise now one was Russell Crowe !!! It has taken me all these years to track this down, was even unsure if it ever went to screen as I left Oz the following month after wrap up party. At that time Russell Crowe was not the demanded actor he is now and I had no idea it was him until I saw the previous comment then thought back to the days during filming..... amazing... Truly delighted with myself now !!!

I first saw Love in Limbo playing late on free to air TV about five years ago, and since then it's a movie I'll always remember warmly as one of those films you see and are forever influenced by.

For the uninitiated, Australian film has a long history of making off-beat comedies about lovable losers, and Love in Limbo is a sterling example of this. Whilst Russel Crowe is the only name actor in it (although these days he's all a movie needs), the rest of the Aussie cast is good- he still steals the show as a nervous, nerdy, virgin loser though.

The general premise is a lot like American Pie. A group of friends wanting to get laid and become men. As you'd expect, the entire movie focusses on this (with a sub-plot about the lead's mother and various other incidents), and is full of humorous situations that push it towards the inevitably sweet ending.

If you enjoyed American Pie, don't expect this to be the same- but expect the same conventions to make appearances. Love in Limbo isn't a gross out romantic comedy- but it definitely has its share of laughs, fist pumping moments when the good guy wins, and the situations every guy, Australian or otherwise, can relate to.

See it if you liked: American Pie, Almost Famous. Strengths: Good Aussie cast, easy to relate to, good perve value. Weaknesses: Predictable at points. My Rating: 8 out of 10

Very funny technicolor-style 50s teen farce, LOVE IN LIMBO was released in 1993 in Perth and massacred by snarly local critics. As a result it staggered into other Australian cinemas briefly and unfortunately disappeared. The absolute joy of this charming fizzy pop movie is the lively comedy between the 3 main cast - the main one now being Russell Crowe in the part of a Scottish accountant-nerd, an acting stretch successfully far greater than anything else I have since seen him in, Oscars 'n' all. His flair for comedy is never been repeated as well as it is here; not that he is a comedian (except for VIRTUOSITY which is unintentional). Preceeding ROAD TRIP and American PIE by a full decade LOVE IN LIMBO recreates in Australia the on screen look of THE GIRL CAN'T HELP IT and the leery loony fun of good natured modern teen comedies, but without the stickyness. A real find and a genuine delight. I hear a rumour a DVD might appear in the coming year. It will probably then find its much deserved market.

This film follows a young geeky Australian in his late teenage years in the 1950s. Expelled from school for drawing pornographic pictures (ah, innocent times!) he gets a job in his uncle's clothing factory and makes friends with two young men that work with him.

The young trio embark on a series of amusing set pieces - their first car, a drive in, a visit to the bottle shop and the outback whorehouse - that see them grow as men and friends.

Nice enough, and worth a watch if only to see a young Russell Crowe playing with a VERY bad Welsh accent!