Shane Jacobsen’s charm and a loveable dog make Oddball a top choice for the family
REVIEW: Oddball is a balanced piece of filmmaking that does the right thing by a uniquely Australian tale of heroism and high-jinks.
Leigh Paatsch
Don't miss out on the headlines from Leigh Paatsch. Followed categories will be added to My News.
ODDBALL (G)
Director: Stuart McDonald (feature debut)
Starring: Shane Jacobson, Sarah Snook, Coco Jack Gillies, Alan Tudyk, Richard Davies, Deborah Mailman.
Rating: ***
The paws that refreshes
They say that every dog has its day.
Well, the delightful new Australian family film Oddball flips that time-honoured notion on its head.
The day in question here demands that a dog — and only a dog — can step up and save it.
Very loosely based on a true story, Oddball is set entirely on the beautiful southwest coast of Victoria, where a rapidly shrinking colony of fairy penguins is nearing total oblivion.
Marauding foxes in the Warrnambool region have reduced the birds dramatically in number, from the thousands down to the teens.
Local authorities have issued an ultimatum: should the penguin population dip to single figures, the already-threadbare protection these frail little flappers get from conservation workers will be removed.
EVERY CURRENT CINEMA RELEASE RATED
LEIGH PAATSCH’S 100 MOVIES TO SEE BEFORE YOU DIE
A cheeky chook farmer named Swampy Marsh (played by Shane Jacobson) cannot and will not let the penguins vanish.
SHANE JACOBSON’S PAINFUL TRANSITION
Sure, he has a vested interest in their survival. Should they go, Swampy will have to say goodbye to his nearest and dearest: his environmental-leader daughter Emily (Sarah Snook) and his inquisitive granddaughter Olivia (Coco Jack Gillies).
And so, cometh the hour, cometh the canine. With the conspiratorial help of Olivia, Swampy hatches a scheme that sees one of his prize Maremma dogs become a round-the-clock bodyguard for the penguins.
Named Oddball, this peculiar pooch has never been much good at doing the job he was originally trained for (guarding Swampy’s chickens from interlopers).
However, for some mystical reason, the otherwise mercurial Oddball is completely on the ball when it comes to protecting defenceless penguins from dangerous predators.
As a well-intentioned and cleverly-crafted Australian production aimed primarily at young children — a target audience it hits with great efficiency and sincerity — Oddball is the clear top pick for kids going to the movies this school holidays.
The success of the film as a completely accessible little crowd-pleaser owes much to the efforts of Shane Jacobson in the anchoring role of Swampy.
This actor has long mastered the tough task of keeping an audience on-side and involved at all times. However, here Jacobson refines this underrated skill further, playing broad-yet-direct so that the true stars of the show (the ones with the beaks and the bark) can get on with their respective jobs.
Overall, Oddball is a balanced piece of filmmaking that does the right thing by a uniquely Australian tale of heroism and high-jinks. No one component oversteps the mark, nor lags too far behind.
Originally published as Shane Jacobsen’s charm and a loveable dog make Oddball a top choice for the family
A-list cast and oddball humour make for a Wes Anderson gem
Fans of oddball director Wes Anderson and his ability to attract a perfect A-list cast are in for a treat thanks to one of his very best in The Phoenician Scheme.
A-lister shines in ‘bonkers’ Aussie thriller
With an unhinged Nicolas Cage doing what he does best, Aussie thriller The Surfer will get in your head and stay there.