ScreenWize

It’s no easy task getting a feature film made, let alone screened – and so a one week run at a major cinema chain is cause for some kind of celebration for The Plex, a new Australian comedy from Tim Boyle. The film is billed as being in the style of Kevin Smith – the American actor, writer and director who was responsible for Clerks, Mallrats and Chasing Amy. It’s probably a bold assertion, but as Smith himself has suggested he has no style other than his off-colour dialogue, there’s truth of sorts in the claim. The Plex is characterized by a low budget sketch comedy approach to humour, some scenes, very funny, well written and finding their mark whilst others fall dreadfully flat, exposing the inexperienced directing.

The story that binds the script together follows AJ (Matt Doran) who has been working in the local multiplex for eight years whilst dreaming of being a writer. AJ is dating the candy girl Kate (Samantha Turner), and works selling tickets with Zeke (Jason Crewes), the fast-talking smart-arse of the multiplex. When the boss Angas Vasnar (John Boxer) gives the vacant manager’s position to his cousin Vincent Vasnar (John Schwarz) rather than AJ, things start to go horribly wrong. Vincent is a sleazy operator who makes a move on Kate and who is involved in a shady plot to help a dodgy film producer. Add to all of this two other female employees who help out with – yes you guessed it - various romantic angles, and a whole stack of strange punters who visit the cinema for no other reason than to be the objects of mockery, and you get a chaotic, irreverent, behind the screens story that never quite finds a consistent tone.

The large and unwieldy cast give away the sketch nature of the original idea and make writer/director/producer Tim Boyle’s job a challenging one. Some slickly edited flashback scenes and the banter between Crewes and Doran are without question the highlights of the film, Crewes elevating himself above the rest of the cast with his likeable rogue Zeke. There are also some clever scenes with cast members talking direct to camera about technical aspects of their jobs – but these are under used. On the downside, Doyle’s choice of covering scenes with mismatched and tightly framed shots gives the film a constricted feeling , with no wide room for anyone to move or breath. Despite this, there is a fresh naivety to the film and it proudly refuses to take itself too seriously.

SW

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Filed Under: Reviews by Simon