Fun's rough; Such is life
Vicky Roach
The Daily Telegraph
22 May 03
source: entertainment.news.com.au

A MODERN descendant of Australia's most famous outlaw goes to LA to save his home from an evil corporate banker ... oops, sorry, that was Reckless Kelly, Yahoo Serious's 1993 flop. This is actor/director/writer Abe Forsythe's equally silly - and equally misguided - spin on the 19th century icon. In Forsythe's version, Ned, the naive, miniature pony-riding son of an obsessed rubber farmer (Jeremy Sims), leaves home to pursue a career as a magician.

In the town of Glenrowan, he answers an advertisement for the position of fourth member of the Hughes gang. What follows is a broad, slapstick romp through Australia's mythical past that is heavily influenced by the Farrelly Brothers' sense of humour. Unfortunately, it's harder to imitate the kings of gross-out comedy than it initially appears. The Farrelly Brothers took the S-bend symphony to new lows in Dumb and Dumber (1994).

With the possible exception of the alien variation on the theme in the recent schlock-horror flick Dreamcatcher, there's nowhere left for this sequence to go. But that hasn't stopped filmmakers from replaying it - over and over and over again. Forsythe is the latest in a long line of comedy writers who simply don't know when to stop.

What Ned does have going for it, however, is a raft of new talent - including Nick Flint as Dan Hughes, Damon Herriman as Steve Hart and Josef Ber as Joe Byrne. Forsythe is only 21. While his feature debut is rough around the edges, there's an energy and freshness to the film that does mark him as a talent to watch.

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