Fatherhood with a twist

FEEL like a quirky Australian movie starring a high-profile local lad back from the US? Not Suitable for Children fits the bill.

5 Reasons, Not Suitable for Children

FEEL like a quirky Australian movie starring a high-profile local lad back from the US? Not Suitable for Children fits the bill.

1. Ryan Kwanten could be taking an easy path, cashing in on his True Blood fame doing cheap and tacky B-grade Hollywood fluff. Instead he consistently returns home to work on quirky Australian films, and good on him for doing so. In this film directed by Peter Templeman (who received an Oscar nomination for his short film The Savour), Kwanten plays Jonah, a man at a turning point in his life. He's living the dream of flating with his two best friends, Stevie (Sarah Snook) and Gus (Ryan Corr) in the best party house ever, but a diagnosis of testicular cancer makes him grow up quickly. If he wants kids, he has to impregnate someone NOW.

2. Cancer is not the typical subject of a rom-com, but neither is this strictly a rom-com. Think of it as drama with jokes, or romance with quirks. Jonah is a likeable lad but clearly far from grown up, and his efforts to find a girl overnight who is willing to have kids are doomed to fail. Otherwise there wouldn't be a movie.

3.There's no real surprise when Stevie, initially very anti-kids, starts to help Jonah with his quest and the two friends begin the transition from mates to mating. Recent films have looked at the challenge of being just friends once you've had sex with someone. This looks at the challenge of having sex with friends.

4. Realistic? Nah, not really but who needs realism in a date movie. Is Kwanten still likeable when you take away his True Blood sexiness? Yep, and when you add the on-screen charm of Snook playing opposite him, it's pleasant viewing without being powerful.

5. Will anybody see it? Well, we don't support Australian films usually, unless they're fashionable (Red Dog) or unbearable, unwatchable, indescribable (A Few Best Men). But if people do see it, will they find it better than average? Sure, and that's better than nothing.

* Not Suitable for Children opens today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uOHuj2Iofg