3.5 stars (out of 5)
The Broadway-friendly Anthony LaPaglia returned home to Adelaide to star in this admirably subtle and sometimes sweetly funny audience-pleaser from writer/producer/director Matthew Saville, who’s best-known for dark feature dramas like Felony and Noise but here manages a lightly melancholy touch that should win just about anyone over. And especially Adelaideans, as this is proudly filmed right here and unafraid to mention suburbs like Croydon, Tranmere and Prospect while also not infuriatingly pretending that it’s actually somehow Sydney or Melbourne or Wagga Wagga or anywhere else.
Frank Mollard (LaPaglia) is a real estate agent who’s had a rough trot recently: he’s divorced from his TV celeb ex-wife Wendy (Justine Clarke) and alienated from his son Frank Jr (newcomer Indiana Crowther), and his life is a bit of a mess. LaPaglia’s pitch-perfect performance shows you Frank’s pain hidden beneath his bemused, closed-off exterior, and while he’s still able to joke around with longtime colleague Philip Lang (John Clarke in his best bigscreen role), we know how much he’s hurting.
When Frank receives a phone call apparently from his Mum – who’s in fact been dead a year or so – he’s deeply puzzled and seeks out the kind Sarah (Julia Blake), who offers a sympathetic ear for his problems, provides a little home cooking and doesn’t appear freaked out at his strange situation. Is Frank looking for a proxy mother? Is he merely pleased to have found such an awfully nice friend? Or does he even know his own mind?
Crackling with amusing lines (although a sequence where LaPaglia and Clarke take a long lunch on the North Adelaide Golf Course is almost too ripe with overwritten laughs), Saville’s pic features charming work from the whole cast, from LaPaglia to the always fine Blake to Gary Sweet in a self-mocking cameo. And seriously, how many movies manage the surely would-be-impossible trick of having you (believe it or not) emotionally connect with a damn real estate agent???
I Wake Up Screening 