pixrox1 Review of The Rage in Placid Lake

The Rage in Placid Lake (2003)

More realistic view of Australia than MAD MAX

[7/10 · 19 February 2013]

If a movie with the title of THE RAGE IN PLACID LAKE were to be made in America, it would inevitably concern a seemingly-indestructible male in a hockey mask offing the U.S. Olympic women's ice hockey team one-by-one in the isolated nooks of Olympic Village, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. However, as this flick is set in Australia, where most given names double as adjectives or common nouns, the "Placid Lake" of the title is the normal-sounding (to them) name of the main character, played by Ben Lee. What Placid has to "rage" over is less clear, as the bullies at his school just punch him out a little (no matter how outrageous and sexual the slurs he throws at them and their forebears). After he jumps off the school roof (since he thinks he can fly in a pinch) necessitating six months in a body cast, the country's top insurance company immediately hires him for being such a good b.s.'er, and the cute brainiac girl moves in with him. (What's to rage about there, eh?) Further misadventures ensue in order to string this thin story out to feature length, or as Rex Reed might say (if he wasn't busy insulting farm equipment): NAPOLEON DYNAMITE in a Brooks Brothers suit.