'Griff the Invisible'
(Ryan Kwanten, Maeve Dermody, Patrick Brammall, et al / PG-13 / 93 mins / Indomina Releasing)
Overview: Ryan Kwanten (Jason Stackhouse of TV’s True Blood) stars in this charming, quirky and totally unpredictable romantic comedy about the superhero in all of us. Griff (Kwanten), a shy and awkward office worker by day, finds escape from his ordinary life by assuming the identity of a fantastic superhero each night. Griff’s secret is jeopardized when he meets Melody (Maeve Dermody), a cute but unconventional daydreamer.
Review: As the movie starts you get the feeling money was spent on it, that the script is above average and the acting is well above par. So, knowing in my heart it is not some slapped together B-movie, I settled in for the ride late last night. And boy, what a ride I got, for 'Griff the Invisible' is quite easily one of the best movies I have seen in the past 10 years!
Written and directed by Leon Ford (himself an Australian actor who has appeared in many television and theatre productions), the story opens with Griff (Kwanten) as 'Griff the Invisible,' a superhero who roams the streets of his local neighborhood, protecting the innocent. Battling a small army of Batmanish baddies one minute, a socially awkward office worker who spends his days being bullied by his workmates the next, his world is suddenly turned upside down when he meets Melody (Dermody).
Melody is a beautiful young wannabe scientist who is actually dating Griff's older brother, Tim (Patrick Brammall). But when the two young love birds meet a chemistry is born and their quirky way to look at life unites them as one - eventually! Sharing his passion for the impossible, they begin to work together: her creating invisible suits for him to get around in and not be seen, he becoming more secure within himself about the role he must undertake each night.
Being that this is an Australian romantic comedy-drama, cum offbeat tale, the hard accents are quickly forgotten about early on and the film is allowed to breathe before us. Griff has his own superhero outfit, a direct (red) phone line to The Commissioner, and multiple video screens feeding him data on the corruption of the city around him.
And, for whatever reason will, I'm sure be made clear on the special features of the DVD once released, the film is chock full of yellow most all the way through! His jacket, his apartment, his plates, the streets he walks, and so forth. He even adds to the yellow with a bath full of lemons!
Come the end of this engrossing film, things start to make sense, Melody begins to finally understand her own purpose in life, and the ultimate ending is a moral one built on the fabric of what we know to be real and what we lovingly perceive to be so.
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