Love and Other Catastrophes (1996) Reviews

Australian college students struggle to deal with school, romance, and life in general in first-time director Emma-Kate Croghan's comedy. The film's focus falls on cinema studies major Mia (France O'Connor) and her roommate Alice (Alice Garner), both of whom find themselves in romantic flux. Alice is torn between the cocky Ari (Matthew Dyktynski) and the shy but loyal Michael (Matt Day), while Mia is in the midst of a messy break-up with her girlfriend Danni (Radha Mitchell). Further complicating Mia's life are her unfinished thesis (on the feminist implications of Doris Day films) and her struggles with the college administration, which provide the opportunity for gentle satire of academia and the frustrations of bureaucracy. The characters deal with their troubles through articulate, questioning dialogue, and Croghan punctuates the film with title screens featuring famous quotes and with attempts to liven up the relatively familiar story with occasional forays into art-film stylization. Most critics viewed the film as a promising debut, with likable characters and a charming romantic tone, if an inconsequential narrative. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi