Well just to continue the recent trend of movie reviews, I thought I'd get onto something homegrown. God knows, there is little enough decent local produce in the theatres. I'll have a go at writing this for the second time, that pesky control-A select-all delete-everything bloody shortcut was my undoing. Keyboards are rats!

Anyway, this particular story was done by the same mob behind one of Australia's other mainstream film successes, The Castle, that being the Working Dog group who are very well known locally for some of their television programs, which actually have some class. Anyway, the result of this most recent collaboration is a warm-hearted, well acted, scripted, and filmed movie that is in stark contrast to the tripe that is so often dished it up to we slaves of the multiplexes (pardon the pun).

The basic premise of the story is as follows: The Dish is one of the largest radio receivers in the world, located in a sheep paddock in the dusty town of Parkes in Central New South Wales. This is one heck of a sleepy hamlet (believe me, I've been there!). The fact that its inhabitants are entrusted with the task of tracking the Apollo 13 spaceship as it wends its way on its ultimately pointless journey to that dirty grey orb we call The Moon (although its pointlessness does not diminish its poignancy) is almost comical. The concept works because it's an angle of this dramatic moment in time that has never been considered before. Just for the record, Rob Sitch was the director, and the script was written by Tom Gleisner and Santo Cilauro. To Aussies, these three are familiar faces off The Panel, a popular TV show.

This is no star-laden cast, most of the names are well-known here in Australia but overseas it might as well be Joe Bloggs doing the roles. Sam Neill and possibly Patrick Warburton, who is supposedly of Seinfeld fame, would be recognisable to overseas viewers. Sam is Cliff, the head honcho of the small group running the dish. Also in the cast are Tom Long, who plays Glenn, the bashful boffin who is in charge of electronics and communication and also of tripartite calculus when required. There is some amusing and cute interaction between him and Janine, a very sexy dear who is as bashful is he is. Kevin Harrington plays Mitch, who is the dish technician. Warburton is Al, the NASA goon in the suit who is sent to watch over the whole thing and make sure the country dopes don't stuff the whole deal up, and in the meantime generally get up the noses of the laidback folk. There is also Rudy, the dopey security guard and Janine's brother.

As you might expect, instead of just being a nice and easy mission, our team experiences some problems in keeping track of our little metal capsule in space. There are blackouts, wind gusts and sundry other difficulties which in the end, lead to the images of the moon being brought to the world via the Parkes Dish..... weird, but true.

There are numerous side plots, and this movie practically defines the Australian way of life, especially in the past when everything was simple and good. There is a lot of delightful interplay between the main characters, and the smaller characters add colour to the film. The mayor of Parkes, played by Ray Billing, is a very good character who shows the easy-going nature of the people, even those in relatively high places. There is the enthusiastic cadet, frog-marching this way and that and performing barracks exercises in his backyard while trying unsuccessfully for the admiration of the mayors beautiful and liberated daughter.

On the whole, this movie is a triumph and works because it takes a simple idea, a few good characters, an original script and puts them together to make a thoroughly good story. There are many laughs, and while there are no special effects or explosions or in fact anything particularly noisy or exciting in that sense, it will cater to all tastes except the die-hard actioner or the very cynical. As an added bonus, there are about 3 or 4 minutes of footage of the moon landing, which was quite interesting because I had only ever seen glimpses of it.

The Dish is a worthwhile movie experience, so if you see it around on video, DVD or even in the cinemas (I think it might be in the theatres in the US) then take full advantage and go and see it.


Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Good Date Movie
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up Ages 8