Oh how my memory diminishes it. The Rage In Placid Lake was an admirably quirky little Australian comedy, while I watched it. Now, a few days later, I cannot help but attach phrases like: “low ambition”, “sketchily drawn” and “cliche heavy” on to its bones. This is massively unfair. For all its low budget, unknown cast and simple A – B plotting, I laughed an awful lot. The idea (Placid Lake is the son of hippy, self-obsessed parents so to rebel he becomes an insurance salesman) is probably more suitable for a sketch than a film, but Ben Lee brings a real likeability to the lead. In particular it touches on the self destructive urge in many bullied people: sure we get bullied because we are small, funny looking whatever. But we can also make it worse for ourselves by taking the piss back and attempting some kind of intellectual retribution.
That said, all the so called teenage cast do not convince, Aussie pop star Lee is twenty seven and looks it. So forget the reviews that say it is not as sharp as it should be, it is as sharp as it is. And it is nice to see Miranda Richardson doing comedy again.