Strange Bedfellows (2004)

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Forget Chuck and Larry. When you have Ralph and Vince, you have it all. These two made for some of the funniest comedy I have seen out of Australia.Vince (Paul Hogan) has tax problems and the Australian government has just passed a law that allows same-sex couples a tax break - and it's retroactive. Scheming to save his arse, Vince convinces his best mate Ralph (Michael Caton) to pretend to be a same-sex couple to get the break.Laughs ensue as they try to hide their secret from the local town folk, and get ready for an audit to prove they are actually gay. They enlist the help of the only know gay in town, predictable the hairdresser, and find out a clever secret he has been hiding. He helps them, and they go to Sidney to immerse themselves in gay culture before the tax man cometh.While this is going on, Ralph's daughter is coming for a visit to introduce her partner. Everything comes together at the Fireman's Ball with Ralph and Vince, the whole town, the hairdresser, and a select few from Sydney, and, oh yes, Ralph's daughter and partner coming together.Great fun!

I actually enjoyed this film up to a point. Sure, it's not great cinema (it's a fun TV movie, I feel) and it does overly draw on stereotypes, but it had some very enjoyable moments.I started to get fed up with the constant flow of stereotypes regarding gay men, but then took into consideration that the characters were two small-town Aussie blokes in their 50s, who try to find out about how to "act gay" from the local hairdresser - a flaming whoopsie who is, in fact, a straight man pretending to be gay so he can safely score other men's wives - and gay porn sites. In short, they don't have any real example of gay men to draw on. That's why their experiences in Sydney annoyed me, because nearly everyone they met in the Sydney gay club was a drag queen or other highly theatrical, femmy kind of gay person. I was hoping they would meet actual gay couples who were, you know, ordinary human beings. So that bit was disappointing. On the other hand a)if those guys were visiting during Mardi Gras then it might not have been an exaggeration and b) it was just an excuse to get Paul Hogan into skin tight foil bike shorts, and hell, he's still looking fairly reasonable! And c) the fact their new friends were so ragingly, stereotypically flamboyant ended up being necessary if the farcical events towards the end (when the Sydney gays arrive for their local do, further problematising their desire to stop pretending to be gay)were to work.The scenes in which Caton and Hoges practice "being gay" were priceless. Ditto the bit where they pretend to be a gay couple for the (clearly perturbed) assessor, Pete Postlethwaite. Why? Because they're so terrible at it and so obviously uncomfortable.Just as it was still looking a bit offensive, though, came the heartwarming cheese. The scam can't be exposed while Pete Postlethwaite is there, because they risk jail. They also don't want to upset their new gay friends, whose support of their "out" life in small-town Australia makes them feel so hypocritical. Caton's daughter has arrived with her new GIRLFRIEND in tow - cue the acceptance! And so Caton does a wonderful speech where, without stating explicitly whether they're a couple or not, he talks about acceptance and about how he loves Hoges. It's vastly better than what they did while being assessed, and it also has a classic response from the other men of their generation in the town. ("I knew they weren't gay. Mateship is a wonderful thing.") All in all, this is no classic but it made me laugh quite a few times.

Vince the local cinema owner and Ralph an expert on fixing motor bikes agree on a plan to reduce debt by cheating the taxation department. A same sex couple it seems gets certain privileges according to the new taxation laws (and what's more it's retrospective). In the closely knit society of Yackandandah where gossip abounds the two men venture on to dangerous ground by pretending they are a devoted homosexual couple.While the story itself may not be original, some of the scenes are hilarious. Learning how to walk ( "left-right-left-right-turn and pivot"), seeking out the right clothes ( "You look divine!"), adopting new phrases ("Just sing the song and dance the dance and follow the yellow brick road!") all add up to a multitude of laughs. Boy, are THEY amateurs?Michael Caton is excellent as a kindhearted mate willing to put himself out for a friend. Paul Hogan is acceptable as the debt ridden pal urging him on. One of the funniest scenes in the whole film is the interview conducted by the taxation officer (Pete Postlethwaite) to test the validity of their application. Glynn Nicholas as the straight guy covering his tracks by assuming a homosexual attitude gives an inspiring performance.The mannerisms in this farcical presentation are greatly exaggerated. They provide most of the humour. The predicted ending is such a happy one that any offense is hopefully quickly forgiven. Helping out a mate seems the right thing to do but sometimes it can get you into a whole heap of trouble.

Synopsis: A fictional and unlikely Australian Tax law has recently passed which allows all bona fide couples (including same-sex) to be treated with equity. In a small country town two good mates (men friends) have claimed desperately needed tax-relief and now must convince a Tax Inspector of their status, while trying to avoid creating a scandal in their close-knit community.Comments: Strange Bedfellows is surprisingly enjoyable and rewarding. `Surprising' because I had dreaded that somehow Paul Hogan would stuff it up, but he does very well indeed as Vince, a man who hasn't ever fancied another man and really doesn't know where to begin. Michael Caton's Ralph is just as inexperienced in relating sexually to men, but hints at being more open to the possibility (though NEVER with Vince).There are plenty of genuine laughs for gay & straight alike (though not always at the same time), and a rather high cringe factor in a few scenes - especially when the men are sampling `gay culture' during a whirlwind visit to Sydney.Strange Bedfellows has it's heart in the right place, is decidedly LGBT friendly and has the same Australian cultural authenticity that made "The Castle" work so well. Of course the same strong element is shared here in the undeniably unique acting talent of Michael Caton.This is a warmly entertaining film about the value of love and friendship. It probably qualifies as being a romantic comedy - but when Vince and Ralph share sweet memories about each other with the Tax Man you'll find there is no love lost. (8/10)