Gettin' Square

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David Wenham as the nobel Faramir, hero of Gondor, is totally unrecognizable as the greasy-haired, twitching, whining drug addict John "Spit" Spitieri of "Gettin' Square". The film is great - it moves fast, never lets you lose interest and gives you a real emotional connection to the main characters - Barry, Dabba and Spit, all trying desperately to go straight but threatened with derailment by the plans of less-respectable acquaintances from their past. The story is great, the directing tight, the performances - especially Wenham's - top notch. His courtroom scene alone is worth the ticket price for the film.

source: Gettin' Square

The formula for the Aussie crime caper movie doesn't change much, the main variable being the amount of violence and gore. 'Two Hands' had plenty of both. This film, scripted by Chris Nyst, is light on the violence and strong on humour. As usual, the good bad guys beat the bad good guys (and the really bad bad guys) with some thrills and spills along the way. David Wenham puts in a standout supporting performance as no-hoper junkie Johnny Spitieri. It's not easy to garner sympathy for a character like this but David has us cheering for him nonetheless. . English actor Timothy Spall fits the role of former crook and aspirant restaurant tycoon Darren like a glove. The characters here are all 'gettin' square', or trying to go straight, but as ever, one last heist is required. The system, of course is stacked against them, despite a pretty and sympathetic probation officer, Annie (Freya Stafford). Officialdom in the person of the Crime Commission is intent on digging up the past in search of revenue rather than convictions, a vindictive and bent policeman (David Field, very nasty) is after them, not to mention Chicka, a local crime lord (Gary Sweet). But of course this varied collection of villains gets their comeuppance and our hero prevails. This is despite the fact that during the Big Heist the cops have the place (a shopping mall) surrounded yet some our guys manage to drive out undetected. Our hero, as played by Sam Worthington, is effective as the still centre around which the action occurs. He looks good – clean-cut, calm, determined, but there's something hollow about him. Most of what we know about him seems to come from others. As a result, the supporting characters steal the show, especially David Wenham's Johnny Spitz. The wasted frame, the daggy clothes and sloppy thongs, the pathetically cheerful demeanour, the utter incompetence all ring true. Even the minor roles are well realised – ex-heavyweight boxer Joe Bugner pops up as a reasonably convincing standover man - and there is a wonderfully po-faced performance from someone (David Roberts?) as the crime commission man – bureaucratic to his bootstraps. Sunny Surfers Paradise, Queensland, is used for locations. Both the beauty and tackiness are effectively invoked. There certainly ought to be a bikini car wash at Surfers even if there actually isn't one. I'm sure a Texas Steak nouvelle cuisine restaurant would prosper there also. It's nice to see this light, entertaining and good-natured comedy doing well at the box office. I just hope it doesn't spawn too many imitators.

it would be sad if such a good film passed through the cinemas without being noticed. Please do yourself and the Australian Film Industry a favour by going out and seeing it. It is a character driven film with a great plot and very clever writing. The first 20 mins do run slow but it is essential to set up the many characters who will push forward the plot. It really is one of the best Australian Films of 2003.

Hate to compare it but best described as Australia's 'Lock Stock and 2 smoking Barrels' set in Queensland. When you are convinced by roles being played you forget they are actors in a movie unlike so many 'Wallyhood' celebs who play limited angles of themselves. All the characters are brilliantly played with David Wenham (as the pitiful John Spiteri) deserving of acclaim as is Timothy Spall (Dabber); a great compliment to the superb Australian cast who's 'ocka' accents and amusing slang build the appeal. It's a punchy, funny, cool film with fast cut directing depicting the humour and anguish of characters and their predicaments succinctly and with style. The sound track is sexy and suitably complimentary.

'Gettin' Square' is one of my favourite movies of the last few years. It's copped a fair bit of flak from critics, but in my opinion it's one of the best Australian films going around today. The Australian film industry unfortunately doesn't have the support of local audiences that it deserves, on top of this, Australian humour doesn't seem to be very funny at all to overseas audiences and 'Gettin' Square' will undoubtedly suffer the same fate as superb Aussie films like 'Swimming Upstream'. In an era of Americanisation in the Aussie film industry (see 'Blurred' and the soon to come 'Deck Dogz') 'Gettin Square' has strong Aussie flavour with biting humour and a smart storyline. David Wenham's performance as 'Spit' was hilarious, as was Timothy Spall's performance as Darren Barrington. While Spall and Wenham provide the humour, Sam Worthington, David Field and Gary Sweet provide the stinging taste of Australia's underworld, rehabilitation system and police corruption. As a whole, 'Gettin' Square' is an excellent film, superbly directed by Johnathon Teplitzky that mixes comedy, drama and crime/thriller flawlessly. See this for: David Wenham's Johnny Spit, the Weight Watcher's jokes, the soundtrack, the clever plot, the twist at the end.

Went to see this on a whim, the film we intended to see was booked out. However, I am extremely glad this was the case, as Gettin' Square gave me one of the best laughs I've had in ages! As I am a drug and alcohol worker, the Johnny Spit character really appealed. Whilst he is obviously an extremely exaggerated parody of your 'crim/scammer junkie' type, David Whenham's performance gave us an over-the-top version of many people who I know (although, in defence of people who use drugs, this type of character is certainly in the minority). Sam Worthington's character presented a sense of identification and humility. There is no anti-crime message in this film, indeed the baddies are the police (played with snearing nastiness by David Field) and the slimy crime boss (Gary Sweet). The heroes are low-level criminals trying to 'get straight', but who end up committing an armed robbery and getting away with it. All of the characters in this film are appealing, and you will be rolling around in laughter at Whenham's court room scene. Best crime caper since Two Hands.

I've now watched this movie twice and enjoyed it immensely on both viewings. It has an excellent script with great humour and is very hilarious in parts... particularly when David Wenham's character "Johnny Spitieri" is on the screen. David should have won an Oscar along with his AFI, FCCA & IF Best Actor awards for this role. Absolutely excellent! The rest of the cast also give very good performances and are well cast. Timothy Spall is particularly good as the crim who's trying hard to be a legitimate businessman. It's a good tale with enough twists and turns to hold your interest to the very end. Watch it for David's performance if nothing else!

If you don't like the film, I would venture to say that you have missed the point of trying to capture the Oz psyche. This flick did, and I loved it. From the choice of Nick Cave singing whilst Barry resigns himself to a corrupt flogging, to Spit's thongs (flip flops for out-of-towners) and acid wash jeans, this film is one of those "essence" films. When done well, capturing the essence of Australia, that is rapidly fading into history (and we can all identify or know many of the characters) just makes you laugh. The treat is how an good tale has been woven around the lead characters, ususally its the opposite. In particular, I am totally amazed how Mr Wenham, like he did in Cosi (my favourite Oz movie), manifests a character so utterly different from the man himself. He truly is the business when it comes to his craft.