A Few Best Men

Director: Stephan Elliot
Cast: Kris Marshall, Kevin Bishop, Steve La Marquand, Rebel Wilson and Olivia Newton-John
Releasing in cinemas: 26 January 2012
Rated: M

Following closely in the footsteps of the knockabout Brit comedy Death At A Funeral, but largely set in Australia, A Few Best Men is an irreverent parcel of fun should be very suitable fare for those who enjoyed that escapade. The film draws on both Death... and The Hangover in its farcical look at a society wedding. Even the title is a tongue-in-cheek tilt at a more famous film.

Manning the marriage mayhem, Aussie director Stephan Elliot (Priscilla, Queen of the Desert), a guy with a wild sense of humour, joins demented forces with Dean Craig, scriptwriter of Death at a Funeral. It's a winning combination of talent in this madcap wedding debacle with its happy culture clash between British and Australian comedy.

David (Xavier Samuel), a Londoner on holiday in the Pacific islands, falls madly in love with Mia Ramme (Laura Brent). In a whirlwind courtship, they agree to get married in Australia, where Mia has her home in the Blue Mountains. The news is greeted with less than enthusiasm by David's wacky pals back in London: Tom (Kris Marshall) Graham (Kevin Bishop) and Luke (Tim Draxl). However they agree to join him at the Australian nuptials, for better or worse - much worse as it tuns out.

Unfortunately en route to the wedding the boys get waylaid buying drugs from Ray, a grotty dealer (Steve Le Marquand) wearing soiled undies in an outback shanty. This will have far reaching repercussions when they arrive at the upmarket home of the bride, under the watchful eye of politically dubious father Jim Ramme (Jonathon Biggins), and his buttoned-up wife (Olivia Newton-John).

Plot sidelines have Graham trying to be helpful to the bride's full figured sister Daphne, who's pretending to be a lesbian, hilariously stealing the show as played by Rebel Wilson;  while grungy gangsta Ray stakes a shine to Graham. You may see what's coming, yet that makes the catastrophe of a wedding even more amusing.

The best man's speech, when finally delivered in a chaotic mumble by drug-addled Graham, becomes a riot of political incorrectness, and should go down in film history. It's a key scene in the film, along with Olivia Newton-John letting it all out, manic after a similar dose of coke. Then there's the Ramsy (a prize merino sheep) incident, better not mentioned in detail here.

Kris Marshall from Death at a Funeral displayed his comic talent back in My Family. He becomes the lynch-pin for the three other guys, and easily keeps the fun rolling. Kevin Bishop (Irina Palm), a noted stand-up comic, proves an excellent partner to Marshal rendering laughs with his facial hair problem, and resembling Hitler in benevolent mood. Wonderful support comes from the delightful Rebel Wilson (Bridesmaids), Olivia Newton-John going berserk for laughs (even swinging from chandeliers), Steve La Marquand (Last Train to Freo) who's marvelously over-the-top, and the remarkable Ramsy, a guaranteed scenery muncher.

Director Stephen Elliot is in great form. He never lets the pace drop, and keeps punching out the gags. Production values are excellent, and the editing snappy. Spectacular Blue Mountains scenery forms a stunning backdrop as it did in Sirens, effectively lensed this time by Stephen F. Wilson.

This seems to me a pleasant way to start the year - with a film full of irascible characters and irresistibly funny situations. It might not be rocket science, or the more sophisticated comedy of say Woody Allen, but A Few Best Men engenders plenty of belly laughs. In the end that is what counts. Fans of Death at a Funeral, add it to your ‘must see’ list.

John Bale