Review: The Rage in Placid Lake

Year: 2003
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Stars: Benny Lee, Rose Byrne, Miranda Richardson & Garry McDonald
Director: Tony McNamara
Overview: Not to be confused with the mediocre creature feature Placid Lake, The Rage in Placid Lake is actually a quirky romantic comedy, a fun corporate satire and a weighty coming-of-age tale. Placid Lake (Benny Lee) is a curiously precocious high schooler raised by new age hippie parents and is constantly picked on by bullies. In an act of fearlessness, Placid presents a brutally honest student video at school which assuredly lands him in the hospital. Recovering from his wounds, Placid realizes a change needs to be made and formulates a plan to become normal to the disappointment of his best friend Gemma (Rose Byrne).

Writing: Originally a play entitled "The Cafe Latte Kid" by Tony McNamara, the big screen adaptation is witty, charming and strangely reflective. Benny Lee's occasional voice over gives the script some tongue-and-cheek humor and the story becomes unpredictably fresh as Placid's inner psyche evolves. Many might find the humor a bit different. In most satires, characters are a logical extension of the subject up for satire but after the first third of the film most characters are treated with a level of civility. Placid's corporate boss for example is first seen as a soulless task master but near the end of the movie you find he's just a person who has lost himself in a corporate world. Unfortunately this movie's freshness starts to fade away in the third act as story holes are quickly plugged in like so much Spackle on drywall and Placid receives his happy Hollywood ending.

Directing: Adapting your own play to the silver screen is no easy task and requires a level of intimacy which Tony McNamara pulls off to a large extent. McNamara's directing, and this movie as a whole brings to mind Jason Reitman and Juno. This can only work against the movie as the rich colors and vivid detail of the set pieces seem less spontaneous by comparison. Keep in mind however that The Rage in Placid Lake came out first and McNamara has a keen eye for mixing the extremes of say, the sanitized gleam of a work terminal to the anarchic room of a college bound student.

Acting: Indie rocker Benny Lee makes his film debut as the film's protagonist and does a fine job concerting Placid's id, ego and superego. His unique charm and unconventional good looks work in his favor as he walks the line between adolescent naivety and adulthood cynicism. Likewise Rose Byrne makes Gemma uniquely fun as a prudish overachiever constantly egged on by her stepfather. The real standouts however are the supporting cast members. Miranda Richardson and Garry McDonald tread the waters well as a hippie couple with marital problems. Though originally introduced as a caricature both manage to make the best of their parts and transcend into fleshed out characters with motivations that aren't always virtuous but human. Likewise Saskia Smith and Christopher Stollery make the best of their screen time as Placid's sexually charged, emotionally distant co-worker and his boss respectively.

Bankability: An indie movie in conception and execution, this movie is a treat for those wanting to tread the well worn path of romantic comedies. But like most good indie films, the high-concept isn't the point. Characterization and the evolution of the themes are what makes this film worth while and the themes are quite universal. The Rage in Placid Lake simply asks, what is identity, is it important, can we change it and would we want to.

ALL-Factor: Teen comedies like The Breakfast Club and Charlie Bartlett attempt to mix laughs with jolts of cinematic seriousness that succeeded in the former, but not in the later. Although not as scrabbled as Charlie Bartlett, The Rage in Lake Placid isn't as composed as it should be. The jokes are laugh-out-loud funny but few and far in between and the love story lacks evolution, at points it seemed Rose Byrne could have been replaced with a male friend and most of the plot points would be the same throughout (though the end kiss would be a little awkward).

Conclusion: I would recommend this to anyone of sound mind and body but not strongly enough to warrant required watching status. Though it has a uniqueness that sticks with you after the credits roll, it only raises to the occasion of date night filler.