When things aren’t going right, or events are beyond your comprehension, who hasn’t thought of just taking off and leaving it all behind? Especially when your relationship is less a lifelong partnership than a complication of obligations, mortgages and split incomes.Danny Deckchair is a starting over fantasy about an easygoing brickie (Rhys Ifans from Notting Hill) who ties oversized helium balloons to his outdoor chair and launches into the sky. Panicked air traffic controllers are forced to re-route aircraft out of his path, until Danny and his chair are blown north of Sydney by a storm. He’s brought to earth by a stray firework from the Macadamia Festival in the Northern Rivers town of Clarence.
Writer-director Jeff Balsmeyer has devised a great visual hook for a romantic comedy. For the film is not just about Danny’s oddball adventures, but his effect on two very different women. Trudy (Justine Clarke) is the over-ambitious real estate agent he literally leaves behind. She sees Danny as “one of the little people” and cancels their camping holiday to Port Douglas so she can stay at work and woo a client, a conspicuously wealthy and attractive TV sports anchor (Rhys Muldoon). Glenda (Miranda Otto) owns the backyard that Danny’s chair dumps him in. She is Clarence’s only parking cop, an uptight young women who’s given up on love, and on whom Danny has a predictably liberating effect.
There’s nothing startling about the plot of Danny Deckchair, once you get past the inventive premise. But what matters most in this genre is the chemistry of the leads. It certainly helps that Ifans and Otto have worked together before (in the Charlie Kaufman-scripted Human Nature). Both are such experienced actors at this sort of thing that they lend the film an air of assurance, and there’s no awkwardness when they’re together. Ifans, despite not being blessed with traditional leading man looks, is surprisingly appealing as the hapless Danny. And, having last seen her as a warrior maiden in The Lord of the Rings, it’s easy to forget how funny Miranda Otto can be.
Balsmeyer, making his first feature, assuredly juggles a large cast of characters. Of the secondary leads, Justine Clarke’s manic energy and comic verve make her a perfect foil for the laidback, slightly loopy Danny, but Muldoon is too bland to be much of a serious romantic rival. Picturesque Bellingen doubles for the fictional town of Clarence. Cinematographer Martin McGrath refreshingly opts for a more realistic lighting scheme than the usual golden glow of romantic comedies.Danny’s lack of selfish ambition and apparent willingness to drift where life takes him proves inspiring to people in Sydney and Clarence alike. And it may just leave you feeling a little lighter as you exit the cinema than when you came in.
For more in the Australian series, click here.
OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2004 Seattle Film Festival. For more in the 2004 Seattle Film Festival series, click here.
User Comments
9/27/09
Dan
I stumbled across this and could not keep from digging it. Great B movie
3/23/09
Ken Taylor
I love this movie. It is a delightful fantasy. Bellington as a backdrop is wonderful.
8/21/08
PAUL SHORTT
AN ENTERTAINING FLIGHT OF FANCY
9/22/07
Matt
not bad
7/04/07
Evan
Yes, predictable; but the msg is a good one, the characters enguaging and it made me smile.
11/18/06
bird
so shines a beautiful movie in a weary world
6/07/06
kevin
its shit, waste of money and time
5/28/06
Josaphene liana
I live in the town it was shot in so exciting at the time i was actuallu an extra and so wa
10/05/05
Mal
Good fun!
6/01/05
leinink
Charming. Interesting characters. Loved it.
4/26/05
LeeLee Barrett
It was really good. very creative
1/17/05
pussyfoot
appalling waste of money and time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1/14/05
Lance
How desperate was the bit where he makes the speech? Unspeakably awful shite.
12/28/04
efrain
a heartfelt story. watch it if you have time.
8/26/04
Maureen McDevitt
A real feel good movie!!!
5/30/04
Larry
It's based on a tru story--look up Lawn Chair Larry on Google.
5/13/04
i faijer
Lovely!!
4/18/04
M
please dont bother people!!!!
2/03/04
Chris
Good Laugh..makes you want to get out of the City
1/26/04
Alex Hosking
Like the breath of fresh air that lifted Danny up, up and away. Don't miss it.
1/01/04
sandra hill
video- loved it- especially Rhys Ifens
12/18/03
micky d
loved it
10/24/03
Ben
Light but great fun
9/09/03
rachael
it was fuking awsome
9/09/03
Emma
Light-hearted and Different. Very Enjoyable! I'm not usually a fan of Aussie flicks either.
9/02/03
Julie
It was a good laugh- although too predictable
8/28/03
Danielle
good, better than i thought, not EXCELLENT
8/24/03
Caela Rooney
Great film
8/18/03
Graham
Not the best movie of the year, but the best feel-good I've seen for a while.
8/16/03
Robin Grant
Thorourghly Uplifting
8/15/03
Paul Dempsey
What a surprise another shit Australian film. Am I a sucker for punishment?
8/15/03
Heather
I loved it. It turned my blue day - pink
8/10/03
Richard
Briliant Australian should be a hit world wide.
8/10/03
Lesley White
Better than I thought it would be
8/05/03
Mick
Lacks republican wannabes therefore good
8/05/03
Joel Bofinger
Great movie although a lot of scenes have been cut from it. It was filmed in my town!!!!
8/05/03
Sam
light humour for all
8/04/03
Greg Haye
An insult to the intelligence - totally unfunny with holes you could drive a truck through
8/02/03
Zak
Really great movie!
8/01/03
Double G
CHAIR, WHY NOT ABOUT DESK
7/25/03
Grant Burgess
a great lighthearted comedy
7/13/03
Patrick Ripsnorter
Awesome, funny, cool
7/12/03
Lemmy
Pee-yew, what a stinkeroo!
7/12/03
Anita
Feel good movie l'd see more than once
7/09/03
glen
Good laugh for all
7/08/03
pip
hilarious, timeless romance
7/04/03
Toby
Very Funny, Feel good movie.
7/03/03
Liz
I was an extra too - definately a fun movie to see
5/23/03
John
movie outstanding
5/23/03
Andrew Chambers
i was an extra in the movie!its going to be big!!!
eFilmCritic.com: Australia's Largest Movie Review Database. Privacy Policy | HBS Inc. | | All data and site design copyright 1997-2013, HBS Entertainment, Inc.