Although it might be nearly impossible to perfectly transfer the great buddy road trip comedies of the early 2000s, Malibu Crush keeps the same setting and clearly gets close to nailing it.
The film hovers over two main themes, Best Friends of Michael Chase and Duey, and the films Love Interest Bridget Van Ryan whose the objective for these two dopey best friends who drop everything in Los Angeles to visit Australia under the disguise of film directors.
The writing style of Malibu Crush is clever and reminds you of the days when slapstick and physical humour was more frequent. The other aspect of the writing style is there are several layers within the jokes. One of my favorite moments in the film is when Duey who continues to boast throughout the entire film how attractive and incredible Bridget Van Ryan is doesn't even recognise her at the end wedding, instead he ruins another bride's big day thinking that's Bridget. Looking back this is written as Duey's way of motivating Michael throughout the film and keep to the original theme of the bond of a best friend.
Michael Chase is played by James Pratt while Duey is played by Billy White, both actors play comedy naturally and are funny. Various other characters are introduced, notably, Emma ( Bella Valentini ) a film director in Sydney who falls for Michael, Jade ( Brittany Hockley ) the crazy girlfriend of Carl ( Dan Musial ) who has a nice character arc and Paul Gofuller ( Scott E Miller. ) The last time I saw Scott on screen was as the brash soldier Wilks in Jabbar Raisani's Alien Outpost, this time he plays the quirky, annoying TV boss whose overseeing a television campaign for Wingmill restaurants.
One major set piece in the film finds Charlotte (Barbara Hastings) Derek Anderson (Caleb Duncan) and an 81-year-old lady getting sprayed with a fire extinguisher at the start of of the film, this sets the bar of the extend the physical comedy one can expect for the rest of the film.
As in many movies of this type, the comedy sometimes goes too far, threatening to come crashing down at any minute. But writer/ director and lead actor James Pratt is a smart filmmaker and doesn't let his happen for long, he is blessed to have a talented cast, an experienced editor in Brianna Cook and a talented cinematographer in Connor Jansen who shoots clean shots.
Malibu Crush deserves applause for giving us something to laugh about and a taste of what classic comedies used to be.
The film hovers over two main themes, Best Friends of Michael Chase and Duey, and the films Love Interest Bridget Van Ryan whose the objective for these two dopey best friends who drop everything in Los Angeles to visit Australia under the disguise of film directors.
The writing style of Malibu Crush is clever and reminds you of the days when slapstick and physical humour was more frequent. The other aspect of the writing style is there are several layers within the jokes. One of my favorite moments in the film is when Duey who continues to boast throughout the entire film how attractive and incredible Bridget Van Ryan is doesn't even recognise her at the end wedding, instead he ruins another bride's big day thinking that's Bridget. Looking back this is written as Duey's way of motivating Michael throughout the film and keep to the original theme of the bond of a best friend.
Michael Chase is played by James Pratt while Duey is played by Billy White, both actors play comedy naturally and are funny. Various other characters are introduced, notably, Emma ( Bella Valentini ) a film director in Sydney who falls for Michael, Jade ( Brittany Hockley ) the crazy girlfriend of Carl ( Dan Musial ) who has a nice character arc and Paul Gofuller ( Scott E Miller. ) The last time I saw Scott on screen was as the brash soldier Wilks in Jabbar Raisani's Alien Outpost, this time he plays the quirky, annoying TV boss whose overseeing a television campaign for Wingmill restaurants.
One major set piece in the film finds Charlotte (Barbara Hastings) Derek Anderson (Caleb Duncan) and an 81-year-old lady getting sprayed with a fire extinguisher at the start of of the film, this sets the bar of the extend the physical comedy one can expect for the rest of the film.
As in many movies of this type, the comedy sometimes goes too far, threatening to come crashing down at any minute. But writer/ director and lead actor James Pratt is a smart filmmaker and doesn't let his happen for long, he is blessed to have a talented cast, an experienced editor in Brianna Cook and a talented cinematographer in Connor Jansen who shoots clean shots.
Malibu Crush deserves applause for giving us something to laugh about and a taste of what classic comedies used to be.