The Rage in Placid Lake

2003 "For anyone who ever felt different... your hero has arrived."
6.9| 1h29m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 17 May 2003 Released
Producted By: MacGowan Films
Country: Australia
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

Placid Lake has always been different. As an odd fish in a sea of mediocrity, his brilliant ideas are bound to get him into more trouble than success. So when he finds himself flying off the school roof and breaking every bone in his body on graduation night, Placid decides to make a bid for the elusive normal life. To his parents' horror, he gets a normal job.

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Reviews

Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much
Redwarmin This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place
Beulah Bram A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.
Staci Frederick Blistering performances.
Hot 888 Mama If a movie with the title of THE RAGE IN PLACID LAKE were to be made in America, it would inevitably concern a seemingly-indestructible male in a hockey mask offing the U.S. Olympic women's ice hockey team one-by-one in the isolated nooks of Olympic Village, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. However, as this flick is set in Australia, where most given names double as adjectives or common nouns, the "Placid Lake" of the title is the normal-sounding (to them) name of the main character, played by Ben Lee. What Placid has to "rage" over is less clear, as the bullies at his school just punch him out a little (no matter how outrageous and sexual the slurs he throws at them and their forebears). After he jumps off the school roof (since he thinks he can fly in a pinch) necessitating six months in a body cast, the country's top insurance company immediately hires him for being such a good b.s.'er, and the cute brainiac girl moves in with him. (What's to rage about there, eh?) Further misadventures ensue in order to string this thin story out to feature length, or as Rex Reed might say (if he wasn't busy insulting farm equipment): NAPOLEON DYNAMITE in a Brooks Brothers suit.
eplromeo8 Aha! After last week's debacle with American Wake, I was starting to worry that the Reel 13 Indies were going to be a series of below average films that didn't receive more significant distribution for a reason (i.e. they stunk). But HERE - here they have found a diamond in the rough – that long lost indie gem that slipped through the cracks and failed to reach a wider audience. This, of course, leads me to two questions: 1) Who at Fox Searchlight or Focus Features went to somebody's bar mitzvah instead of a screening of this film allowing Film Movement to pick it up? and 2) Why in the hell didn't Reel 13 debut with this film instead of American Wake? (Sidenote: Another option would have been to air it on 2/2/08 when Reel 13 is showing Rebel Without a Cause – this would have been a PERFECT companion piece for that – why aren't they looking at content when pairing these films???) The first thing you need to know about The Rage in Placid Lake is that it's an Australian film. The second thing you need to know is that it stars that country's quirky rock/folk icon, Ben Lee (you may have noticed that I recently added one of his songs to the MySpace page – it's pretty good…). The film starts out with a five year-old Placid Lake being sent to school in a dress by his granola, new wave bisexual mother (Miranda Richardson) to challenge the other students' preconceived notions of sexuality or something like that. It's a very clever idea and very efficient – with a few simple images, it establishes Placid, his family and the series of problems he is likely to have when he grows up into Ben Lee.The film is full of moments like this – visual, clever ideas that optimize screen time to push the story forward (There is a great dream scene in which Placid plays his own therapist and they discuss his life predicament and action steps to resolve it – more films need to be creative like this when it comes to exposition). There are not many belly laughs, per se, but the film is consistently amusing, often inspired and always irreverent. The script is really strong – structured without feeling manipulative and resisting the urge for sitcom-type "set-'em-up, slam it home" humor. There are a few minor contrivances (Placid's corporate job interview is a bit too easy) and there is a heavy reliance on voice-over, especially in the beginning (I am particularly biased against the over usage of VO – that and dissolves – but I won't get into that here. We could be here all day…), but on the whole, the film works on many levels.Ben Lee is amiable and pleasant as the titular character. He has the charm, if not the chops. If you're looking for chops, look no further than Miranda Richardson as Sylvia Lake, reminding us why she was the Brit femme du jour of the early 90's when she received two Oscar nominations in a three year period (for Damage and Tom and Viv) before she faded into occasional obscure roles on BBC TV movies. Hopefully that won't be the same fate for Rose Byrne, who has the unique distinction of being the best thing in two very bad movies (Troy and Wicker Park). Byrne gives her best performance to date as Placid's genius best friend, Gemma. Byrne can't hide her sexiness (she was innocuously sexy as both a spunky slave girl and a psychotic stalker in the previously mentioned films), but she can (and does) layer it with intelligence, wit, (appropriate) pathos, and an emotional confusion that, to some degree, stems from her inability to reconcile her smarts with her sexuality.The most memorable part of the film for me, though, involves the performance of Christopher Stollery as Joel, Placid's supervisor at his corporate insurance job. This has as much to do with Stollery's impeccable delivery and timing as it does the very concept behind the role itself. Joel becomes an unwitting, somewhat accidental surrogate father/big-brother to Placid - almost like a corporate soothsayer, whose advice is generally as much a surprise to the giver as it is to the recipient. This is a great, original narrative device invented by writer/director Tony McNamara who uses it consistently and effectively to steer the story in one direction or another.As excited as I am that Reel 13 discovered and aired this film, I am somewhat appalled that it didn't receive domestic theatrical distribution. This isn't just a good little indie film – this is a good film in general and had it been released in 2003, it would have stood a good chance of making a few top ten lists that year, including my own. I understand that Ben Lee was less of a sell-able commodity at the time and that Australian films are not in high demand, but successes like My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Bend it Like Beckham and Napoleon Dynamite prove that there is a market for more varied entertainment. We can only hope that the next hidden gem like The Rage in Placid Lake gets the kind of attention it deserves.
kcdl I really enjoyed this movie. I won't lie to you though it isn't uber-brilliant, deep or ultra-funny. It is the sort movie you watch late at night when your expectations are low. If you're looking for a movie that doesn't make you think too much this is it.That being said I did find it funny, if somewhat puerile at times. I could relate to the main protagonist. The story moved along at a good pace and didn't get bogged down. I really wanted to see how it would end up.I like that it didn't suffer from the usually Australian movie problem of "lets show you how uniquely Australian we can make this film" it just let itself be. It showed a side of Australia that wasn't purely rural or suburban.Also Rose Byrne is absolutely gorgeous. I think I want to marry her!
rachid2000 Iam a big fan of foreign movies but this one really was just bad. The acting was very poor especially the main character. The movie is not funny and most jokes are just copied of Hollywood movies. Save yourself2 hours and $3.99. It doesn't matter how much you try to get out of the movie at the end there was not much to get out of it. The jokes were mainly lame and the character was so dull and unfunny. The movie was not very original and the acting could have definitely been improved. There are lot of good Aussie movies out there but this is not one of them. The story line was very hollywoodish without life and at the end you wished you had followed you instinct and turn it off right at the beginning