Life is too short to ever be doing nothing. It's always healthy for the body and mind to get out there and make something of yourself. If only such a thing were easy when you realise you're alone in love in the new Australian romantic comedy Any Questions For Ben?
Life is pretty good for 27-year-old Ben (Josh Lawson). He has a well-paid job, the women love him, and he is surrounded by some very interesting people. We quickly meet his flatmate Nick (Daniel Henshall), Nick's girlfriend Em (Felicity Ward), his best friend Andy (Christian Clark), and his so-called 'mentor' Sam (Lachy Hulme). Ben is about to start a new job (his seventh in five years) at a clothing sponsorship company for tennis wear. Under the impression that he will move on to something else fairly soon, he reluctantly goes along for the ride with his over-confident boss Malcolm (David James) and his strict ever-frowning colleague Ken (Alan Brough). But when he is invited as a guest speaker to a careers evening at his old high school, he meets an old flame by the name of Alex (Rachael Taylor). Then, Ben begins to realise something is missing in his life.
Written and created by the Australian Working Dog production team (The Castle [1997], The Dish [2000]), this film is presented very much along those same lines, particularly in the style of comedy. The very Australian dry wit and the matter-of-fact sense of humour is what drives the story, but drives it to some very funny moments and some others that are just hilarious. Australians have always enjoyed poking fun at themselves, and Australian audiences will get a real kick out of it. The characters are also so relatable that people will look at it and say "Hey, I know someone like that."
Playing host to a very 'mix n' match' approach to casting, there are some good performances in it, but not particularly deep really, except for the protagonist. Josh Lawson is good, strong screen presence and we follow his journey of self-discovery with admiration and hope that he will succeed. Director Rob Sitch (The Dish [2000]) has deliberately placed characters through the film that don't really help him, but rather unintentionally try and knock him off course, in order to emphasise to the audience that Ben is truly alone no matter how many people and parties he surrounds himself with.
This having been said, it has a few flaws, the main one being the length. At almost two-hours it's a little too much for a somewhat one-dimensional story that we've all seen before. But you shouldn't mind so much about that, because it never really gets boring – there's enough laughs to keep our attention. The other flaw is the film's pace – it's very inconsistent. The first twenty minutes happens at a million miles an hour, introducing what feels like a million characters in the first five. Then once it starts to get into the story it begins to slow, and slow, and slow. Particularly towards the end, there are some scenes that just aren't needed and are really there just for the gags, so if they weren't there (as precious as the jokes may be) the pace might've been more evenly distributed throughout a shorter running time.
Any Questions For Ben? is a vibrant, goofy and very Australian look at the search for accomplishment and achievement. With some of the who's who of Australian television comedy, it provides some great laughs and harmless banter that can easily be enjoyed by most audiences. It's the kind of film you watch to enjoy and not think about, except for maybe the first twenty minutes when you have to concentrate in order to keep up. A solid romantic comedy throughout, this latest addition to Australia's film resume is great fun.
