NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN (M)
Where: general release from July 12
Review: Stephen A Russell
WHAT would you do if you found out you had only three weeks left to become a dad? Twenty-something party boy Jonah, played with endearing gusto by True Blood’s Ryan Kwanten, discovers a lump on one testicle that must be removed, with the unfortunate side effect of rendering him infertile.
To add insult to injury, his healthy sperm won’t survive the freezing process for later use, so the otherwise laid-back Jonah descends into a panic, cold-calling exes and wildly inappropriate one-night stands, trying to convince any lady to get up the duff on the spot.
Shocked flatmates Stevie (Sarah Snook) and Gus (Ryan Corr) try their best to convince him this might not be the best approach to parenthood, but Jonah forges ahead undaunted.
Director Peter Templeman’s debut feature, after a successful run of short film work which scored him an Oscar nod for 2007’s The Saviour, is a playful, light-hearted affair that ably works its quirky central concept. Michael Lucas’s funny and at times touching script sucks you into what might otherwise have seemed a farcical situation, while the obvious chemistry between Kwanten and Snook as best mates at loggerheads really sells the movie.
As the wacky third to this messed-up trio, Corr also entertains as a kooky oddball focused on making as much money as possible from wild parties the flatmates throw in the beautiful old house left to Jonah by his mum. We’re left to assume her absence is at least partly responsible for Jonah’s wayward ways.
The laughs come thick and fast, particularly in one eye-opening ejaculation that tops Cameron Diaz’s hair-raising scene in There’s Something About Mary, but the film also has quieter moments as the friends grapple with their changing outlooks on life. It’s been a long time since we last saw such a funny Aussie flick with swagger and balls.
