Stars: Rhett Giles, Joy Smithers, Walter Kennard, Alexandra Fowler, Kelly Butler Director: Michael Egan Screening at Gala Cinema
I'm not usually one for giving Australian films points for effort. They should be judged the same as films from anywhere else in the world - just because they're made here is no reason to go soft on them. But I have to make an exception with Love In The First Degree. It's not a brilliant film but it does have its moments - and it gets points for being a romantic comedy.
That's a genre Australian films have steered clear of, preferring to make deep and meaningless stuff like Somersault. So, in a film industry that seems to look down upon anything that's not arty, Love In The First Degree gets the thumb s-up for having a crack at the mainstream.
Leslie (Joy Smithers) is a lawyer whose secretary has left. A temp agency has sent her a fill-in, unemployed actor Fred (Rhett Giles). As is the norm in rom coms, they initially hate each other but gradually fall in love, once Leslie realises her fiance Graham (Walter Kennard) is a sleazy piece of work.
Their budding relationship is complicated by Leslie's apparent shame at dating someone perceived as being below her station. That friction is nicely handled and is the most realistic and believable part of the film.
There are flaws in the film, mainly with the support characters. A pompous actor (Rory Williamson) is such a cliche that any humour is lost, and the repeated appearances of a taxi driver feel unnecessary and unbelievable.
But it's Leslie and Fred's relationship that is the focus and, for the most part, that works. Both characters feel real and their motivations genuine. Plus, they have some laugh-out-loud funny moments - making this a rom-com with both romance and comedy. Love In The First Degree isn't going to set the world on fire, but that's not what it sets out to do. It's light, fun and entertaining.
GLEN HUMPHRIES
18 May 2006
The Beat - Illawarra Mercury