Any Questions For Ben?

Synopsis: Ben (Josh Lawson) is a 27 year old who seems to have it all. A highly paid job, lots of friends, great social life and women falling into bed with him. But when he is invited to speak at his old school and no-one has any questions for him he goes into a slump, questioning the meaning and purpose of his entire life. It doesn’t help that he is mighty keen on fellow ex-school mate, now UN worker, Alex (Rachel Taylor), yet seems unable to tell her how he feels.

The Working Dog team of Sitch along with co-writers Santo Cilauro and Tom Gleisner who were behind the much-loved Aussie classic, The Castle (1997) and the somewhat less legendary The Dish (2000), have returned to the big screen with a film they hope will appeal to 20-somethings, and which will showcase the city of Melbourne over the course of a year.

I can’t speak for the 20-somethings, but I found AQFB an amiable enough entertainment but with nothing to set the world on fire. It’s not hilarious, but it gave me some minor chuckles, along with much bemusement as to why Ben is so popular with the women. Sure he is successful enough at his job, but he’s had 10 of them over seven years! Now he is involved in rebranding tennis gear and he does it well. But Mr Personality he is not, and I can’t figure if this is intentional in the writing of the role, or simply something lacklustre about Lawson’s performance. Perhaps the opening line gives us a clue – an on-screen quote from Papa Hemingway: “Never mistake motion for action”. Ben seems incapable of following anything through, or even initiating the steps to the things he desires most. Things just happen to him, as when sexy tennis star Katerina (Liliya May) throws herself on him. That just doesn’t ring true for me, but the scenes involving the Australian Open are amongst the funniest.

Ben’s male friends are a genial lot. There is easy-going Andy (handsome Christian Clark from Home And Away), pragmatic Nick (Daniel Henshall, a recent award winner for his turn as a serial killer in Snowtown) and Sam (an excellent Lachy Hulme), a Mediterranean restaurateur who drives a Ferrari and feels fast cars are the answer to all of life’s crises. Sam is my favourite character, full of life’s wisdom and worthwhile philosophical advice to Ben.  It’s really refreshing to see a script that writes male friendships well – not stereotyped ocker blokes, but fellows who seem to care about each other’s welfare and who are keen to sort themselves out.

Then there’s Em (Felicity Ward), Ben’s ex, a grounded warm-hearted woman, who unfortunately just looks a bit old for the part and the love interest, Alex. Though in this role Taylor is a warm bubbly screen presence and I can see why Ben wants her, she is written almost too conventionally, because it beats me why this intelligent woman, working in Yemen for social justice, would hitch her wagon to wishy-washy Ben.

Melbourne is certainly showcased to her best. The grand dame looks in turn classy, artistic, vibrant, glittering, and many shots of illuminated buildings and aerial scenes show what was once ranked as “the world’s most liveable city” off to the max. So many iconic events and scenes are present but it’s almost as if the writers vowed to cram in as much of Melbourne as they could. They have also appended a grab bag of current songs which seem a bit random.

Unfortunately the film’s denouement just didn’t ring true for me, but don’t leave before the titles finish, as there is a terrifically funny sequence showing the previously unseen lead-up to the resolution. Although it fell short for me, perhaps for the target age group there will be rewards in this slick but would-be meaningful exploration of their relationship crises.

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