before i start, i'm just for warning you all that i am one of Ben lee's biggest fans, and so in a way, am pretty biased. but by the same token, this movie is amazing. it had everything that doomed it to fail - a first time director, a first time leading actor AND a low budget. but if you didn't know better, you wouldn't have even guessed that after watching it. placid lake is a gem, there's no question there. and a laugh out loud comedy too, with lines like "she must have got hit by a car...women, huh?" when his best friend didn't turn up for a golf match when he was trying to impress his boss. but it isn't the jokes that make it so good, but the thought provoking questions it raises. i won't go into it, because in the end those questions being raised and thought about are individualist.placid lake (played by singer/songwriter Ben lee) is the only child of hippie parents, who make him wear a dress for his first day of school and who let the bullies hurt him for it. yes, they are unconventional parents, but by the end of it, you won't be sitting there thinking "they are horrible people", surprisingly enough. and you also won't be thinking placid lake is the coolest guy ever, either, because put blankly, he isn't. but you get drawn to him and his struggle for normality all the same, and want him to find it, even though it seems hopeless. and while he is struggling to fit in with life after school, you see his science-nut best friend Gemma Taylor (played by Rose Bryne) trying to cope with a life that has been planned out for her since she was tiny.and if these things don't grab you, seeing Placid in a full body cast will.Overall, a great movie, and well recommended for everyone (well, just so long as they are old enough to cope with the strong sexual content).10 stars!

i have been in love with Australian cinema for years. it all started with "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" & "Muriel's Wedding". it then continued with films like "Love & Other Catastrophes", "Hotel De Love", "Cosi" & "Garage Days". (not sure if those were the Australian titles for all of these films or not.) the problem is that America doesn't get a lot of Australian films to choose from. even American made independent films have a hard time making it to theatres. the overload of bad Hollywood films makes it hard for anything to make it to the screen. we have to either rent them on DVD or watch them on channels like IFC or Sundance, and now we have Logo. i know Ben Lee is a household name in Australia, but in America he is still relatively unknown. (which is just unfortunate for America.) i recently saw him in concert opening for Aimee Mann. he blew me away. once i got home i checked out his website and that's when i learned about "The Rage in Placid Lake". i rented it thinking that he would have just enough charisma as an actor to make it entertaining. instead he blew me away again. i was also pleased to see Miranda Richardson in this also. she is such an incredible actress. i would love to find out about more great Australian films that i should see. so if anyone out there can recommend some, please do. and as far as recommendations go, it said somewhere on here if you liked "The Rage In Placid Lake" that you should see "Kindergarten Cop". wow, i am not sure how that conclusion was made. if you did see this and liked it, check out some of the titles i mentioned above instead. some similarly themed American films you might check out are "The United States of Leland", "Garden State", "The Battle of Shaker Heights" and yes even "Napoleon Dynamite". and if you like good music check out Ben Lee in concert (i get to see him again soon, with Ben Folds & Rufus Wainwright) or get his CD "Awake is the New Sleep".

With all due respects, I have seen funny, and this isn't it. EVERY movie made about teens coming of age has the theme that you have to find your own identity in this harsh cruel world. "The Rage in Placid Lake" seems to think it's discovered something brand new in making this startling discovery. Here's the spoiler I promised you. Placid Lake discovers he should just be himself and then he gets the nerdy girl in the end. There, I've just saved ninety minutes of your life, which can now be spent watching one of the much better movies that this one pays homage to. (start with "The Graduate", then "Rebel Without A Cause", "Ghostworld", "The Bank") This got a lot of good reviews when it was released, and lots of good reviews on this site, and picked up a plethora of nominations for the AFI awards, so it's obviously strikes a chord with a lot of people. But for those who want to a movie with real characters, a sub text buried beneath the surface (hence the name sub text) rather than pasted irritatingly over the top, any connection to the real world and decent jokes, don't bother. Rent "Ned" or "You Can't Stop The Murders". They're both funny and unpretentious and didn't muster an AFI nomination between them.

I am constantly surprised by good reviews for Australian movies. Aren't we in the middle off a recession we had to have, why is it so easy for Australians to bag movies like take away and the wannabes, but when a good one comes along like this, we sit ashen faced and let inbred morons hope working dog make the castle 2.stand up for Australian cinema. what other country in the world would try and make a movie star out of Mick Molloy. He's not Jewish or a Scientologist, but he's still a matinée idol in Australia.If this movie was set in new jersey it would be an award winning movie that moves a generation, we don't need America's seal of approval on our movies. As long as we like them who gives a f*&k.