Actuakers One of my all time favorites.

Dotsthavesp I wanted to but couldn't!

Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

Candida It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

David T I only gave this 2, not 1, because I thought some of the acting wasn't too bad. Terrible story, boring and tedious, predictable script. I ground my teeth through this and kept thinking, if this is the state of Australian cinema then I give up. With brilliant movies out there like "Love and Other Catastrophes", "Muriel's Wedding", "Wolf Creek (1)" why did this ever get past the script sketch? If you really want to watch GOOD Aussie cinema try "Romper Stomper" or "Bad Boy Bubby". There was precious little music throughout, and thank god because the "born again" sounding music used in the final credits really had me grabbing the remote to turn it off. Steer clear of this boring, tedious crap ... my two cent's worth.

popcorninhell Not to be confused with the mediocre creature feature "Placid Lake," "The Rage in Placid Lake" is a quirky romantic comedy, a fun corporate satire and a weighty coming-of-age tale. Placid Lake (Benny Lee) is a ridiculously precocious high schooler raised by new age hippie parents and is constantly picked on by bullies. In an act of "fearlessness," Placid presents a brutally honest student video at school which assuredly lands him in the hospital. Recovering from his wounds, Placid realizes a change needs to be made and formulates a plan to become normal to the disappointment of his best friend Gemma (Rose Byrne).Originally a play entitled "The Cafe Latte Kid" by Tony McNamara, the big screen adaptation is witty, charming and strangely reflective. Indie rocker Benny Lee's occasional voice over gives the script some tongue-and-cheek humor and the story becomes unpredictably fresh as Placid's inner psyche evolves. His unique charm and unconventional good looks work in his favor as he walks the line between adolescent naivety and adulthood cynicism. Likewise Rose Byrne makes Gemma uniquely fun as a prudish overachiever constantly egged on by her stepfather. The real standouts however are the supporting cast members. Miranda Richardson and Garry McDonald tread the waters well as a hippie couple with marital problems. Though originally introduced as a caricature both manage to make the best of their parts and transcend into fleshed out characters with motivations that aren't always virtuous but human. Likewise Saskia Smith and Christopher Stollery make the best of their screen time as Placid's sexually charged, emotionally distant co-worker and his boss respectively.Many might find the humor a bit different in this film. In most satires, characters are a logical extension of the subject up for satire but after the first third of the film most characters are treated with some level of civility. Placid's corporate boss for example is first seen as a soulless task master but near the end of the movie you find he's just a person who has lost himself in a corporate world. Unfortunately this movie's freshness starts to fade away in the third act as story holes are quickly plugged in like so much spackle on drywall and Placid receives his happy Hollywood ending."Rage in Placid Lake" evokes comparisons to other teen comedies like "The Breakfast Club" and "Charlie Bartlett" which attempt to mix laughs with jolts of cinematic seriousness. It certainly succeeded in the former, but not in the later. Although not as scrabbled as "Charlie Bartlett," "The Rage in Lake Placid" isn't as composed as it should be. The jokes are sometimes laugh-out-loud funny but those moments are few and far in between and the love story lacks evolution. At points it seemed Rose Byrne could have been replaced with a male friend and most of the plot points would be the same throughout (though the end kiss would be a little awkward).I would recommend this to anyone of sound mind and body but not strongly enough to warrant required watching status. Though it has a uniqueness that sticks with you after the credits roll, it only raises to the occasion of date night filler.http://theyservepopcorninhell.blogspot.com/

ematus Characters are believable, yet stretched to be perfectly bizarre. I saw the film at an Indie Film Fest at a college where my mum works and the whole room just kept laughing. I thought my sides were going to burst!This is definitely on my list of favorites now.... I just want to give it a hug.Oh... you have to see the movie. You just have to. You will be laughing so hard throughout you won't be able to hear half of the lines and you will have to see the whole thing over again. I think i might re-watch it tonight and then have a bunch of people over to watch it again.

data3 I went into this film knowing very little apart from that the main character had an unusual name, and it had Ben Lee and Rose Byrne in it. I came out the other end knowing quite a bit more, and feeling very positive about the whole experience!This is not your typical Australian film, for example, it doesn't resort to having characters with really strong 'Ocker' accents, and not everyone is wearing stubbies and a singlet. It represents, i think, the more real Australia than is normally shown, and it does it so with quirky, original characters. Placid's (Ben Lee) journey in this film is interesting and funny to watch, as we see a young man searching for more stability to his life, while Gemma (Rose Byrne) tries to show him that stability isn't what he needs.All in all, I enjoyed this film immensely and I know that certain scenes will be sticking in my head for a long time yet. Excellent work by newcomer Ben Lee, and the expected great work by Rose Byrne and Garry Mcdonald help this film to stand head and shoulders above a lot of the fare coming out of Australia these days. Top Effort.(Note to those who like useless trivia/details - watch out for Ben's girlfriend Claire Danes' cameo around half way through the film. Blink, and you'll nearly miss it!)