A Few Best Men

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Myself

Once again Australia tries to combine influences from American and British aesthetics and ends up with a bland mix that won't work for anyone. It seems to be aiming for something outrageous like the Hangover but it has none of the pace, physical comedy or interesting and divers characters, nor does it contain an ounce of that wonderful dry British wit from when two social classes collide.

Now I am aware I just said The Hangover has diverse and interesting characters and as ridiculous as that sounds, it actually does when compared to something like this. There is just something awkward about this film. The editing is odd, especially at the start, cutting scenes before lines of dialogue are finished. I suppose it's a way to save time and make things feel like they are moving towards the 2nd act but it comes off as sloppy.

Don't even get me started on the music. Horrifying Australianised covers of popular songs that rarely fit into the scenes they play in and have vocal tracks that usually interfere with the dialogue. No.

And is it just me of has Laura Brent been badly dubbed for the entire film? That or some very bad ADR.

The worst thing is barley a handful of the jokes land. Most of the actors look like idiots, especially Olivia Newton-John. Even Rebel Wilson is finding it hard to get a laugh here. Xavier Samuel comes out the most unscathed probably due to the fact that he's playing the straight man to all the shenanigans.

I really don't know what Stephan Elliott was thinking. This one just didn't come together. Hell even the comedic tone was all over the map. Some people are playing it real while others like it's a kids cartoon. Very disappointing on all fronts.