By EWAN McDONALD
(Herald rating: * * * * )
For Jack (Robbie Magasiva), Wayne (Scott Wills) and Thomas (Paolo Rotondo), life is about having a beer in one hand, a pool cue in the other, a coin on the table and their mates around them. They play pub pool for
fun and money at Dave's bar.
But Dave has a problem. He's in hock to Daddy, a Greek Godfather with no hands who operates out of a Wellington barber shop. Desperate to get out of Daddy's clutches, Dave enters the Stickmen in a $10,000 pool tournament. Run by ... Daddy.
The debut feature by former advertising creatives Hamish Rothwell (director) and Nick Ward (writer) sometimes looks like an extended beer commercial. The story is thin and characters are broad stereotypes.
But the performances are good (in this most blokey of movies, it's Simone Kessell and Anne Nordhaus who stand out); Wellington is at its down-at-heel best; and, apparently, they're buying our movie in Israel, Switzerland, the UK, the US and Australia after a popular screening at Cannes. Could be the boys' big break.
Running time: 97 mins
Rental: Today
