Aussie family life in the 90s

The ensemble cast is flawless and the adept handling of situation comedy results in a film brimming with fun.

Christmas time is family reunion time. Except that these days, when families are a lot more complicated than they used to be, Christmas can be more stressful than celebratory. David Swann, directing his first feature after his award-winning short, Bonza, extracts all the humour, and sentiment, to be found in a modern Christmas reunion story. The events unfold through the eyes of 12-year-old Joey, very well played by Daniel Kellie, who isn`t keen on spending the holiday with his widowed mother (Susan Lyons), her uptight new boyfriend (Peter Rowsthorn), the latter`s bullying son (Christopher Chapman) and his grandparents (Terry Gill and Maggie King). There are so many of them that Joey`s forced to sleep in the toolshed with his great -grandfather Albert, Warren Mitchell, a scoundrelly old Glaswegian recently out of prison. There`s also Aunt Dotty, Valerie Bader, a woman with consuming appetites. With this bunch, it`s no wonder the Christmas meal`s a bit chaotic... Crackers will undoubtedly be compared to The Castle, another film about Australian family life in the 90`s. This is certainly a bettter-made movie, and at its best it`s absolutely hilarious. Every imaginable joke about Christmas is included here - and it`s all terribly convincing. I`m not quite sure the ending works, but the ensemble cast is flawless and Swann`s adept handling of situation comedy results in a film brimming with fun.