Review: Monkey Grip

Sexually liberated, somewhat reckless single mum Noni Hazlehurst (whose character works in the music biz) falls head over heels for a flaky, drug-addicted struggling actor Colin Friels, and as the title suggests, he has quite the hold on her, despite knowing he’s no good for her. Chrissie Amphlett plays (what else?) a tempestuous rock singer named Angela, who is an associate of Hazlehurst’s and has serious man issues (insert lame ‘I Touch Myself’ gag here). Michael Caton plays some guy painting Hazlehurst’s house (no joke, that’s his role!), whilst Candy Raymond is perfectly cast as Friels’ bitchy ex.

Sometimes well-acted, but miscast, dreary and rather pointless 1982 Aussie drama from director Ken Cameron (who hit it big here on TV with the miniseries “Brides of Christ”) never escapes the complete stupidity and unlikeable nature of its central character. An AFI award-winning Hazlehurst is commendable (and often nude!) in the role, but neither she nor Friels ultimately convince as rather dopey, selfish lowlifes. For some reason they just seemed to intelligent for their parts. Hazlehurst’s character is entirely unlikeable- selfish, stupid, and puts herself (and her daughter, more importantly) into no-win situations. I just don’t warm to smart people who do dumb things that will potentially destroy their lives and the lives of others. Pretentious narration by Hazlehurst doesn’t help, either, it just irritates, and the dialogue is similarly flowery at times. The somewhat episodic structure also doesn’t help, and we actually don’t get to see enough of Friels’ drug problems for my liking, it seriously hurts the dramatic impact if we can’t get much of a sense of what is going on with him.

Best remembered for the acting debut of the inimitable Chrissie Amphlett and musical performance by her band The Divinyls (who perform their classic ‘Boys in Town’), neither of which is enough to make the film worth more than a curio. It is interesting to see future “Better Homes and Gardens” (and “Play School”) presenter Hazlehurst and Aussie icon Caton (best known for “The Castle” and TV stints on “The Sullivans” and “Hot Property”) in a film together, given their later roles on lifestyle TV programs. Did I mention Noni from “Play School” gets naked? A lot? Well, she does.

The screenplay is by the director and Helen Garner (whose daughter Alice plays Hazlehurst’s surprisingly sage daughter), who wrote the novel on which the film is based. Perhaps that explains the annoying narration and air of pretension? I’d say so.

Rating: C+