Fat Pizza vs. Housos is year's worst movie?
Reviewing a Paul Fenech film, whether it be Fat Pizza, Housos vs Authority or his latest assault on political correctness, Fat Pizza vs Housos, is a bit like reviewing a wild, raucous, out-of-control circus.
There are angry dwarfs, strongmen with bald heads and curvaceous ladies with bottoms that could bounce a Kardashian into the cheap seats. There are disabled performers on motorised wheelchairs, bikies, kamikaze stunt performers and freaks of all shapes, sizes, colours and ethnic backgrounds.
It's a kaleidoscope of chaos, colourful language, multicultural insults and orgiastic nudity. Casting a critical eye over it is a bit like dancing to architecture.
What it isn't, in this instance, is particularly entertaining or funny, for Fat Pizza vs Housos lacks even the minutest of narratives that were present in Fenech's previous "fill-ums".
Shot in five weeks with a cast of about 200 of the most unlikely performers and non-actors ever assembled, Fat Pizza vs Housos sees the characters from both unlikely hit series and movies go head-to-head in a kind of lowbrow battle to the death.
Bobo (John Boxer) is released from prison and re-opens his infamous Fat Pizza store - this time in Sunnyvale - under the wing of his screeching mama (Maria Venuti). When she cooks up a scheme with the local council to swap the dole for pizza vouchers, it angers the rowdy locals, especially single mother Shazza (Elle Dawe), who fights for her right to spend her handout on cigs, booze and pot.
The colliding universes give Fenech the chance to double his roles as both Franky from Housos and his "cousin" Pauly from Pizza. He also writes, directs, produces and has a hand in every aspect of the production.
He's a maverick of multiculturalism, a struggler's champion and prince of bogans, and his crude brand of sexist, racist, lowbrow and politically incorrect comedy clearly has its place in Australian culture. At a time when Australians are snubbing their noses at most other Australian films, one look at his films' box-office success is an indicator of that.
But with the lazy, nonsensical narrative in Fat Pizza vs Housos - which is the worst of his three films - I suspect the whole Housos and Pizza phenomenon is now a bit on the nose. I'm sure not all ethnic groups, disabled folks or welfare battlers appreciate being depicted this way. Fenech needs to move on to something else. Something new. Something lacking 'vs' in the title. And that's just what he's doing, apparently, with a secret new project next year.
Brace you-selfs, 'Straya.
