Bruce Venables Movies
- 2003
Australian comedians Anthony Mir, Gary Eck, and Akmal Saleh make their first leap to the big screen with the Mir-directed 2003 comedy, You Can't Stop the Murders. Australian small-town cop Gary (Eck) enjoys his nearly pastoral existence, with traffic violations providing the major excitement to his normally low-key days. While away from work, Gary spends a good deal of time fantasizing about local news reporter Julia (Kirstie Hutton), who would just as soon relocate to the thriving metropolis of Sydney. Soon, however, a motorcyclist is found decapitated, with a construction worker, a sailor, and a cowboy and Indian also meeting the same fate. With some murderous weirdo with some sort of Village People fixation terrorizing the town, Gary -- with the help of big-wig city detective and Don Johnson-wannabe Tony Charles (Mir) -- begins to realize that a cop is the last remaining victim to be murdered in order for the killings to be complete. ~ Ryan Shriver, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gary Eck, Akmal Saleh, (more)
Dein Perry, the dancer and choreographer who scored an international hit with the stage show Tap Dogs, made his debut as a film director with this drama inspired by his early days as an Australian laborer. Sean (Adam Garcia) and Mitchell (Sam Worthington) are two brothers who work at a steel mill in a rough-and-tumble area of New South Wales, Australia. Sean is a talented dancer and thinks this could be his ticket to a better life; Mitchell, however, is more practical, and tries to talk his brother into joining him as he opens a new business, leaving dancing as a hobby. Tensions grow between the brothers when Sean quits his job to study with a well-known dance troupe and come to a head when Sean and Mitchell fall for the same woman, Linda (Sophie Lee). Dein Perry also co-wrote the original story for Bootmen, as well as appearing in a small role. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Adam Garcia, Sophie Lee, (more)
- 1999
- NR
Unrequited love and mistaken identity are the lynchpins of this romantic comedy from Australia. Ruby Vale (Claudia Karvan) is a pretty but no-nonsense young woman who lives in a small village in the Aussie outback, where she runs the only diner in town. She's engaged to marry Hamish (Andrew S. Gilbert), who is pleasant but dull, and spends much of her free time with her good friend Jack (Hugh Jackman). Jack secretly aspires to be a writer and has in fact published a novel, but since the book is a frothy paperback romance, to avoid embarrassment he decided not to use his own name and instead credited Ruby Vale as the author. The book becomes a best seller and suddenly Ruby is forced to pose as the writer of a book she hasn't even read, and when the publisher flies her to Sydney to discuss her next project, confusion is the result. Leading lady Claudia Karvan was formerly a popular child actress in her native Australia, while her co-star Hugh Jackman makes his screen debut after establishing himself in musical theater, starring down under in major productions of Beauty and the Beast and Sunset Boulevard. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Claudia Karvan, Hugh Jackman, (more)
- 1996
Sleazy real estate wheeler-dealer Ben Egan (Aden Young) is brought up short when a deal catastrophically falls through. After he hits a policeman, Egan winds up doing several months of community service at a youth drop-in center. Before that, he had been all set up to marry the boss's daughter (Tammy MacIntosh) and rise swiftly in the old man's firm. The woman who runs the center (Essie Davis), and one of the children get his attention and he begins to have charitable thoughts occasionally. However, old habits die hard. When he learns that the youth center is situated in a prime development area, he tries very hard to get hold of the property. Will his growing conscience break through the shell he has built around it in time to prevent him from closing this deal? ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- 1995
This Australian period comedy set at the turn-of-the-century, is based on the anecdotal books of Steele Rudd (the pen name for author Arthur Hoey) that described life on a rural "selection" (a small farm) in Queensland. Like the original written tales, the film is anecdotal and chronicles events from the lives of the Rudd family. The story begins when the parents and their five grown children first arrive at their desolate selection. Their lives are as barren as the land as they struggle to work. The result of their toil is a meager harvest, which they try to sell in a depressed market. Despite their constant hard work and few rewards, the family is a lively bunch and despite their difficulties are able to stay together through thick and thin. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1994
This Australian road movie avoids melodrama and mush as it depicts the relationship between a feisty old woman and the young misanthropic ambulance driver who must take her home. The film opens with the sight of an old woman wandering a country road. She is in deep shock. The camera then moves to the scene of a fatal crash caused by her husband who dozed at the wheel. As a result of the tragic accident Rose was hospitalized for a year. The film moves to the present as she is finally ready to leave and go home to her farm. It is a six hour drive. She will be taken by Spider, an obnoxious young man disgruntled at the prospect of spending his last day driving an old bat home. The two opposites begin irritating each other from the moment the journey begins. Eventually they do become more receptive to one another. Thanks to an errant kangaroo, their journey is suddenly paused. This leads them to a series of adventures, including one involving Jack, an aged beekeeper. He and Rose find themselves attracted to each other. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ruth Cracknell, Simon Bossell, (more)
- 1992
It is a simple thing that police officer Tony Bourke has to do to regain his detective status. All he has to do is go to a remote outback town and clear the local police of any wrongdoing in the shooting of an Aboriginal suspect. After all, he himself recently suffered from being demoted because of an accidental shooting he committed while on the job. Nothing could be easier, except for one irritating little fact, which his superiors have ignored: Tony actually believes in the laws of the land. He is not prepared to whitewash the white cop's misdeeds (if that's what they are) just because they have been committed against a person of color. In this painful social drama, the tensions caused by discrimination in Australia are skillfully highlighted. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jerome Ehlers, Frank Gallacher, (more)
- 1990
One disaster after another is all that the newly married Dave and Tina Dodd reap from their investment in a home to be built in a development outside of Sydney. The builder has almost gone bankrupt, largely due to his hiring incompetent job foremen (especially Kevin Grant) who can't follow a blueprint. The far from wealthy couple gradually twigs to the disatrous progress of their increasingly expensive dream home, and the strain on their marriage becomes acute as they discuss their options with their lawyers. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bruce Venables
- 1990
Arch Nicholson directed this breezy sex comedy concerning ex-journalist turned rock promoter Richard Muir (Colin Friel), who is pulled in two different directions by the women in his life -- his vivacious wife, Catherine (Catherine McClements), who wants to have a baby -- and Carla (Helen Mutkins), his ambitious mistress, who wants to have Richard. Richard decides to take his wife away for the weekend to their beach house -- not for a vacation, but to tell her that he is leaving her. Catherine, not realizing the ulterior motives of the weekend at the shore, determines to use the intimacy of a weekend with her husband to get pregnant. But then all bets are off when self-absorbed rock star Jon Thorne (Jerome Ehlers) arrives at the beach town for a weekend of quiet fishing. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Colin Friels, Catherine McClements, (more)
- 1990
- R
What happens when baby-boom rock 'n rollers, having had their fleeting moment of fame and notoriety, grow up, get other jobs, and have children of their own? For one thing, if this movie is to be believed, they envy their children's musical abilities and, when the youngsters get involved in their own version of rebel-music, they re-create the famed "generation gap" all over again. Johnny (played by Australian actor John Waters) was a member of a 1960s band called the Chosen Ones and enjoyed the famed trinity of that era: sex, drugs and rock 'n roll. Now the middle-aged man is bored with his "straight" job and wants to see if he can't start a revival of his band's popularity, but his wife wants his career change to be more practical and suggests that they invest in a restaurant. At the same time, Johnny's much more talented son Paul is making waves in his own band. One highlight of this film is the surprisingly skillful music-making of the performers, none of them music pros. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- John Waters, Rebecca Gilling, (more)
- 1989
Australian author David Williamson adapted Emerald Cities from his own stage play. The title may conjure up images of the Wonderful Land of Oz, but the plot is set in the Munchkin-free Australian film industry. John Hargreaves stars as a prosperous screenwriter who is perfectly willing to accept the obscene gobs of money thrown at him. One day, however, he decides that he's a sellout, and attempts to turn out something of meaning and value--and uniquely Australian. But he runs up against an industry with both eyes on the valuable American market. There are laughs in Emerald Cities, but they have a hollow ring; this hit too close to home with many Australian filmmakers to be considered a comedy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Hargreaves, Nicole Kidman, (more)
- 1988
This two-part TV movie, produced in Australia, was based on the tragically true story of an Australian teenager (John Polson) condemned to death for dealing in drugs in Malaysia. Part One set up the circumstances which landed Polson and his friend Hugo Weaving on Malaysia's death row. In Part Two, Polson's mother, played by Julie Christie, races desperately against time to save her son from the gallows. She enlists the support of the Queen of England, the Pope, and a large international organization of concerned citizens--but the Malaysian government remains unmoved. Evocatively filmed in Macao, Dadah Is Death had the bad luck to premiere on American TV opposite the highly rated miniseries Favorite Son. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Julie Christie, John Polson, (more)
- 1988
Outback Bound is a made-for-TV film tailored to the talents of Donna Mills. She plays a pampered Beverly Hills resident whose cash flow bottoms out. Learning that her late father owned an opal mine in Australia, Mills packs what's left of her things and heads for the Outback. The mine is virtually tapped out, but that won't stop our dauntless Mills. Filmed on location in late 1987, Outback Bound made the syndication and cable rounds in the US in 1988. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
