A Few Best Men

A group of British 20somethings travel to Australia to be best men at their friends wedding, with hilarious consequences...

When "David" returns from his travels around the Pacific and tells his group of friends that he is to marry "Mia" in Australia, it is decided that they will all go with him across the world to be best men at his wedding.

Not only does "David" have to come to terms with "Mia's" family of which Dad is a senator, mum is a repressed, bored trophy wife, and a lesbian sister, who is rather unconventional, but he also has to keep track of his best men. Friends, who are trying their utmost to ruin his wedding. Add to the mix an extremely troubled and violent drug dealer; most of the Australian senate, "Ramsey", the family pet sheep that seems to mean more to the senator than any other members of his family, enough cocaine to float a small army, and you have the makings for one of the strangest weddings in Australian history.

If he can manage to keep all of these strange elements at bay, then "David" may have a small chance of enjoying the happiest day of his life...

An enjoyable romp of a comedy and romance, but delivered a lot less of the laughs that the trailer promised, while bringing more emotion than one would have expected. Australian born Xavier Samuel, who has had previous outings in "Eclipse" and most recently in controversial historical bio "Anonymous", does a decent enough job as "David" in this one, but you do get the feeling he is somewhat overshadowed by some of the bigger named actors on the screen. Countrywoman Laura Brent gives a decent enough showing as "Mia", but does not have a whole lot to do in one of the leading roles.

Englishman Kris Marshall continues his break away from TV (His role of "Nick" in the hit UK comedy My Family", somewhat holding him back), but he does superbly well in this film, holding it together when it looks all but set to unravel. His portrayal of "Tom", the long time best friend to "David" is comedic, yet emotional, and shows how close the bond of friendship can become over a lifetime. His antics with his fellow best men are superb and his interaction with "Ramsey" provides some of the best laughs of the entire movie.

Kevin Bishop does well as the very reserved and innocent "Graham", making you almost feel sorry for him having to give an impromptu best man speech, while completely off his face. His clumsiness is funny, yet tragic and you cannot hope that one day he might bump into the girl of his dreams. Tim Draxl is the most annoying character you could hope to see on screen in 2012 as the emotional and rather hate-able character of "Luke". He will not let go of his ex girlfriend, who clearly wants nothing to do with him! You honestly want to reach out and throttle him during many parts of the film, which is down to excellent writing by Dean Craig, but the film would be a lot more enjoyable without him.

Australian comedian Rebel Wilson, does a superb job as "Daphne", the pretend lesbian intent on annoying the hell out of her straight laced and respectable senator father. In her first on screen outing since "What to Expect When Expecting", she returns to her native accent and easily delivers the most enjoyable performance of the entire film. It would be good to see this talented comedy actress in more serious roles, as I think she has a lot more to offer.

Singer/Actress Olivia Newton-John, returns to the big screen for the first time since her performance in "Good Luck Chuck" in 2007; putting on a great Aussie accent and giving a decent performance as mother of the bride, "Barbara". Her drug fueled antics are enjoyable and humorous, and she is ably supported by Jonathan Biggins, who does a great job as the always respectable senator, "Jim". The suprise highlight of the movie comes from Steve Le Marquand, who does a fantastic job as drug dealer, "Ray". It would be great to see a lot more of this talented Australian actor.

An enjoyable film, a bit slow in places, but the laughs, when they come are good. The interaction with the sheep is fantastic and the dressing up of the animal will have you giggling for days. This one isn't going to win any acting awards, but its worth the time you spend on it. A fair bit of dirty humour, but they manage to do a decent job with an average script

4.5/10