CAST:

DIRECTOR:

Tony Martin

SCRIPTWRITER:

Tony Martin

PRODUCER:

Tony Martin, Greg Sitch, and Stephen Luby

EDITED BY:

Peter Carrodus

CINEMATOGRAPHER:

Graeme Wood

PRODUCTION COMPANY:

Double Yoker Films

FINANCIAL BACKERS:

Macquarie Film Corporation
Roadshow Film Distributors
The Movie Network

CLASSIFICATION:

M (15+)

RUNNING TIME:

98 Minutes

GENRE:

Comedy

MOVIE EXPENSE:

$3 Million

MOVIE SETTING

Melbourne, Australia

RELEASE DATES:

24th July 2003

BOX OFFICE FIGURES:

Total Gross $2,306,029 with $644 973 in the opening week of screening.

REVIEWS:

1. Kerry Bashford - Ninemsn -
http://entertainment.ninesmn.com.au/movieguide/movies/3016.asp

"A feel good quirky comedy - and given it fresh spin. Part cop show satire, part political farce, part bumbling buddy movie and totally larrikin and laconic in its approach, it has a sharply different tone and pace to those movies. Relies on the inherent humour of his situations and incomparable talents of his cast rather than forcing the fun."

2. Scott Hamilton - POPplanet - Australian Movie Reviews - Australian Film News
http://www.popplanet.biz/story.jsp?id=263

"This is a comedy set in a serious story, and there is a story, which unfolds like all good thrillers a little at a time. It is very entertaining to watch Mick Molloy, Bob Franklin and Judith Lucy, who obviously have a well-rehearsed rapport with each other, work off each other. The dialogue and the chemistry between these comedy actors is the key here."

3. Any Gough - Echo News - The Northern Rivers.
http://www.echonews.com/929/movie_reviews.html

"Bad Eggs is a romp with enough plot and intrigue to keep you guessing, if not laughing heartily. It has more edge and pace than Molloy's last film, Crackerjack, which also thoroughly enjoyed, as well as a great soundtrack. At a time when Hollywood is offering yet more flag waving patriotism, it's refreshing to know that the Aussies still know how to tell the best yarns."

4. Andrew L Urban - Yahoo
http://www.au.movies.yahoo.com/r/uc/b/bad_eggs.html

"Encouraged by Crackerjack, perhaps I expected too much from Bad Eggs, a scrambled idea, hiding humour inside a bent cop scenario, all set in Melbourne - which, it should be said, does not have a monopoly on corruption. There are a handful of good laughs, though, and the preview audience I saw it with especially liked the opening gambit; so did I. But then the tone shifts and shifts again, as if the storyline had taken control of the writing process, elbowing out the sense of humour. It's a mildly entertaining film in the end, and while it plays a little slow, it maintains interest."

5. Louise Keller - Yahoo
http://www.au.movies.yahoo.com/r/uc/b/bad_eggs.html

"Droll and dry with an occasional whiff of inspiration, Bad Eggs is a fun fantasy fling in which Mick Molloy sheds his Crackerjack bowling apparel for a gun, a partner and a girl. Molloy and Franklin play it very straight and the humour comprises chuckles rather than side-splitting guffaws."

INTERVIEWS

1. Lawrie Zion - The Age - "Martin Whips up a Celluloid Omelette."
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/04/09/1018333350599.html.

"Although the film is a comedy, Martin believes that is the jokes are removed, it will
work as a thriller. It's almost as if Mick and Bob have been dropped into an episode
of Phoenix or Blue Murder."

2. Gaye Pattison - Interview with Tony Martin
http://www.abc.net.au/goulburnmurray/stories/s891079.htm

"When we used to do the Late Show years ago they had this pretend antagonism thing going which people thought was real.. I remember thinking at the time that would be a good dynamic to put into a film.. because there is a bit of chemistry there, so I was going to do that for years - then Mick Malloy got in first with his lawn bowls movie - I couldn't believe it!."

3. Interviews with Tony Martin and Cast.
http://www.moviehole.net/news/2025.html

"The only person that had to audition was Bob's wife. She had the accent we needed". And those endless supporting players came easy too, says Martin. "They all work for cheap", he laughs. "That's how we were able to get them all".

ONLINE PRESENCE:

The ABC supported this film by releasing reviews and interviews by the director and stars of the film to help along the publicity of the film. The ABC probably supported this film mainly because it was a group of people who worked on the network for many years. These people also helped the ABC during a time to increase the younger section of the community to move away from commercial networks. Interest about the film from the ABC's perspective was also because the film was Australian made. Mostly other Internet sites that were found were the movie Internet sites and "things to do" sites which give the reader the idea about the movie before they go and see it.

BIBLIOGRAPHY OF INFORMATION FOUND:

Bad Eggs is a recent film therefore using a search engine on the Internet gives many reviews and interviews. Using the Google search I found many reviews on the film from many sources including online newspapers and also sites that which are solely there for movie buffs and have information on films that they may have seen or are thinking about seeing. Facts about the total cost of the film and what was taken in dollars at the box office was also found through the internet using a search engine.

INTERESTING FACTS:

• This film was only shot in 7 weeks with hardly any edits required.
• No government funding was given for this film.
• Main characters and Director were part of the original Late Show shown on the ABC, which was very successful.
• Editing basically took three weeks because he shot virtually only what he envisaged using.

PLOT SUMMARY

Ben Kinnear and Mike Paddock are two members of the elite Zero Tolerance Unit in Melbourne's Police Force. After a freak accident involving a well known magistrate the two find themselves in a situation where colleges in the police force are not coming up as clean as once thought by the pair. When the pair is named as corruptive policeman, it leads to undercover detective work by the pair and an unexpected love interests returns to help Kinnear in his pursuit to prove his innocence. Corruption in the Police force could not ignored by the two find some interesting and humorous investigative work, which leads to a showdown between right and wrong with a few laughs along the way. During the film there are cameo appearances by many Australian actors, which also adds to the interesting plot and outcome of the storyline.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF "BAD EGGS"
BY: TANYA PHILLIPS

MY OPINION:

A cop movie that incorporates corruption, humour and a hint of love interest all in one quirky unusual way! This is the easiest way to describe the movie "Bad Eggs" produced by Tony Martin. The well-oiled team of Mick Molloy, Judith Lucy and Tony Martin who originated from the ABC's The Late Show have made their way from TV and radio comedy to the harder audience in the film industry. Perhaps after their success with the first film "Crackerjack," produced by the leading man of this film, Mick Molloy, there will be more of this quirky sense of humour to come from these talented comedians.

"Bad Eggs" is a mixed bag of genres including a dry but funny comedy aspect. If you didn't like Crackerjack, than I have a feeling that you won't enjoy much of this movie either. The humour in this film can be dry at times and it isn't one funny joke after another. In parts of the film it feels as if the film is dragging its feet and your wondering when it is going to get to the point. However just as you start feeling this way is when humour kicks back in for a while. It's the serious topic with the humour that you expect from these fine actors.

The opening first ten minutes is probably the funniest part of the whole film. Taking a tragic circumstance of a magistrate taking his own life, leads to a bad reputation for the two main characters that make headlines as being the most useless cops on the beat. However this event leads to the two "useless" cops becoming involved in a major case, which involves a shady casino boss and also a long list of shady policeman including their boss. The two play the honest cops who cannot allow the corruption that they have found stay in the police force.

To be honest this movie feels like you have three characters (Molloy, Franklin and Lucy), which work well together and have a great feel for each other and they have been put in an unlikely story line - a serious one. It is almost like the actors have been given a plot of a serious cop show from the 60s and 70s and have been asked to liven up the storyline with their witty humour. The two main characters in Molloy and Franklin work well together. However sometimes their humour which bounces off each other is sometimes lost to the type of audience who are not used humour being created in a way that the audience must look into what the characters are saying and not be handed the humour on a plate in order to have a good laugh.

Judith Lucy plays Molloy's long last love that once worked with him and then left the force to be a disgruntled newspaper reporter. In my opinion Lucy's full potential was not utilised in this film and could have been used more to increase the amount of humour between the two main characters. In the end of the film we see the two (Molloy and Lucy) with a cocktail shaker and a dancing scene which shows the full capacity and humour that the two can come up with together however this brilliance was not utilised enough throughout most of the film. Using this pair more together in the film with a few more jokes would have uplifted the film into a more interesting film.

As most great Australian Films go when the underdogs with everything against them win over the tall poppy than it makes you feel happy that you are Australian and you can stick up for what you believe in.

CRITICAL UPTAKE OF "BAD EGGS" AT THE TIME OF ITS RELEASE.

This movie had an advantage right from the start. It had three very well known Australian comedians as the main actors as well as the cameo appearances from other well-known Australian actors. The director, Tony Martin was also well known as a great comedian from radio and television shows prior to starting to produce films. As shown above with the reviews that were written at the time most enjoyed the movie and praised the main characters and the way that they could incorporate humour and a storyline that Australians remember from the cop shows of the 60s and 70s. With most reviews they have some way of ranking films from one another from fantastic to horrible and don't bother seeing it - it is usually in the number of stars etc. With this film most reviews ranked the film in the middle - probably because a lot of money was not used in producing the film. In some instances cars didn't blow up they just moved onto the next scene to save costs. When trying to rate films that have spent millions of dollars to produce and great special effects I think a medium rating for this film on its smaller budget is a pat on the back for director Tony Martin.

The timing of the release of the film was actually quite crafty for a low budget film and also an Australian film focusing on details about Australia. At the time of the release of this film in America it was very quiet in the Film industry and the films that were being made were basically films that were secured a success at the box office. The other types of film that were being made were films that were trying to increase the hopes and the enthusiasm about being American. After September 11 there was a shift of what could be produced and also what was appropriate to be produced. In America people were scared about terrorism and there was a shift in production of films because directors were feeling uneasy about what they could produce and what consequences could come from these films. Therefore in Australia it was the perfect time for this film to be introduced because it was different, it was funny and it was also Australian.

OPINION OF THE FILM NOW….

When Bad Eggs was released to the public in the box office the main viewing was in the first couple of weeks where the die-hard fans of Molloy and Martin made sure they went and saw material from their favourite comedians. However after then the numbers did drop off. In the first week the film took $644 973 of the $2,306,029 made overall in the box office. For this type of film the most money would be taken in rentals because the producers did not spend millions of dollars to promote the film, as would American films would. To most a film with less special effects or one that has not be advertised greatly would probably do better in rentals because people won't go to see the film on a larger screen to get the full effect of special effects.

CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE PRODUCTION/RELEASE AND BOX OFFICE OF BAD EGGS

Bad Eggs was shot in seven weeks and also had minor amounts of editing. In most instances the first shot was the one that was taken to the cinema. The cost of the film was $3 million and that reflects why the producers could not afford a lot of publicising. It was hoped that word of mouth and the interviews given by the main characters and director would lead a big hit a box office in Australia. This film would not go as well in America because firstly the characters are not as well known as they are in Australia and also the small hints towards the Victorian Government and corruption in the police force would not be understood as it was in Australia.

THE POSITION AND VALUE OF AUSTRALUAN FILM:

In the early 90's the Australian Film Industry increased in prestige in Australia and Internationally. In this era films that were produced in Australia actually lived up to international films that were showing at that time. Some examples of these films included Two Hands, The Castle, Lantana, Chopper, The Wog Boy and later on in 2002 Crackerjack also shone in the film industry. However although these films have shone in the Australian film industry, internationally they have not had the same influence. For an industry where American based films are usually prominent, Australia's film industry is slowly increasing with dominance and this also proven in the amount of Australian actors that are making it big in a dominant American industry.

Bad Eggs is classified as a comedy and by most critics is described as the "quirky" sense of humour which is expected of most Australian Comedies. The definition of quirky according to Verhoeven is stated as "a characteristic flourish, a tic alluding to a larger difference, to quirk is to strive to stand out from the flock, is unexpected, uncharacteristic."1 This definition of quirky would be an appropriate way to describe the movie Bad Eggs. If one word was said about the movie quirky would reflect the type of humour that Tony Martin has achieved but it also reflects the type of humour which most Australian directors try to accomplish because that is what the Australian public enjoy. The slob of a cop in Molloy and the shifty working of the two main characters are seen as characteristic of the Australian culture. The two main characters may have been a bit shifty to find out the truth but it did not matter because they got the bad guy in the end!

===============================================================

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1 Verhoven, Deb, 2000, "History of cheap guffaws (hehehe)", Cinema Papers, 134, August/September: 30-33
This quotation as stated by Garry Gillard, Med231 Lecture Notes, Comedy. (www.murdoch.edu.au)

ONLINE REFERENCES

1. http://entertainment.ninesmn.com.au/movieguide/movies/3016.asp
2. http://www.abc.net.au/goulburnmurray/stories/s891079.htm
3. http://www.moviehole.net/news/2025.html
4. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/04/09/1018333350599.html
5. http://www.popplanet.biz/story.jsp?id=263
6. http://www.echonews.com/929/movie_reviews.html
7. http://www.au.movies.yahoo.com/r/uc/b/bad_eggs.html
8. http://www.moviemarshall.com/id_badeggs.html