Blurred

Schoolies week has become an institution in this country and it was only a matter of time before somebody made a film about the goings on of secondary school leavers for that one fateful week on the Goldcoast, here it is Blurred... For a bunch of teenagers whose schooldays are over, Surfers Paradise beckons. Buddies Pete, Danny and Lynette are travelling by bus, but they get ejected for playing music too loudly. Yolanda and Amanda, rich girls, have hired a limo and a spunky chauffeur. Bradley and his girlfriend Jillian are travelling by train, but Jillian gets mad when Bradley tells her he wants to meet other girls in Surfers; Jillian stops the train and leaves with the virginal Zack. Farm boys Calvin and Wayne run off the road in their battered Holden and get picked up by a refugee from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Will any of them ever get to their destination?

Based on a play, though you`d never know it, this very likable teen film is so much better than American teenage comedies. There`s a sweetness to this story - written by Stephen Davis and Kier Shorey and directed by Evan Clarry which is essentially a comedy of frustration. It`s a pity that it`s visually so ugly, but its bubbling good spirits make up for a lot, and there are some excellent performances, especially Jessica Gower as Jillian and Kristian Schmid as Danny, while Matthew Newton, also good, looks startlingly like David Hemmings in Blow Up.