60 Second Movie Review: Three Summers

RATED: Three Summers is rated M for Coarse Language

AUDIENCE: Aimed at those who appreciate kitsch Australian comedies like The Dish and Strictly Ballroom

WHAT’S GOOD: It has a great deal of Australian talent – Michael Caton from The Castle, Magda Szubanksi from Babe, Deborah Mailman from The Sapphires and Peter Rowsthorn from Kath & Kim to name a few.

WHAT’S NOT: They’re hardly used. Instead, writer/director Ben Elton has overburdened the film with well-meaning mentions and statements about a dozen social issues – constitutional reform, Aboriginal land rights, alcoholism within families, the dangers of sex-Apps, British child migration, illegal immigrants – that the humour is constantly undercut and the love story virtually swamped.

SPIRITUALLY SPEAKING: The answer offered at the end of the film is pure sophism – a statement that sounds wise, but ultimately means nothing: ‘Unless we start listening to each other’s stories we won’t begin to understand our own.’ They might have done better with Jesus’ revolutionary and easily understood: ‘Treat others the way you’d like to be treated yourself.’

RELEASE DATE: Three Summers will be available in cinemas November 2