LouHomey From my favorite movies..

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Cassandra Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Michael Clough Solid but not brilliant Melbourne made telemovie. Stiff is the first movie made from the books of the Murray Whelan series & had that "first movie of the series" feel, a lot of time was spent establishing the characters & their relationships.The ending was a bit unsatisfying, the discovery that Gardiner was the bad guy & his final moments appeared to be rushed & that part of the story not fully fleshed out.Good to see brief cameo performances from Australian Labor Party legend Barry Jones & current ALP Premier of Victoria Steve Bracks. Would we see Liberal (conservative) Party officials appear in a film that takes pot-shots at their party setup? I don't think so!

alex-stephenson Throughout Australian Film there are many examples where the nobler characters tend not to say too much. They tend to be quite laconic, resorting to the occasional outburst which might take the form of a diatribe aimed at life's foibles. Murray Whelan, played cleverly by David Wenham, is depicted as one of those characters. His self deprecatory humour is typical of the genre and a breath of fresh air. For me this film exuded Melbourne. Although maybe just a little harsh on the State parliamentarian. Delightfully idiosyncratic. Some of the scenes around the factory were hilarious. Less convincing may have been the villain , Herb Gardner, played by Alan Hopgood, and Lionel Merricks, played by Sam Neill.

vladimir-137 Wenham is excruciating: the man can't act, he can only inflect his voice affectedly. Steve Bracks gave a better performance; at least he didn't say anything, which was an improvement on Wenham.The script is excruciating: talk, talk, talk, and all the 'jokes' unfunny.The mystery is about up to the standard of a sub-par episode of Scooby Doo; why didn't someone call the cops?, who would have solved the crime in less time than this telemovie takes.Typical of Australian television that we have to have a fake show of multiculturalism from an entirely Anglo project, in which even the Turkish love-interest girl is played by an Anglo actress. (Couldn't have had Wenham falling for a *real* Turkish girl, of course!)This crock belonged on the ABC (government television). Nuff said.

youngspirit An amusing and entertaining TV-movie, "Stiff" showcases David Wenham as Murray Whelan, political fixer and amateur investigator.It made me laugh with its combination of in-jokes, political cameos, and physical humour: in this respect, the translation from the page to the screen allowed the telemovie to become the superior story - however, the detail of the book was obviously missing in the adaption.Finally, Wenham came across as a cross between his characters Jim Doyle ("The Bank") and Johnny Spitieri ("Gettin' Square"): Knowledgeable but also slightly sloppy and tired. The supporting cast did a great job, as did John Clarke on the story adaption.All up, Three and a Half out of Five.