User reviews

This is the sort of film, the Australian film industry needs to make more of. No forced acting.

Mostly moronic nonsense where quirkiness is paraded as wit. Yet, despite its predictability, it has entertainment value, nice locations, and a fantastic villain.

Not a horrible film but nowhere near a classic cinema 10 some reviews would have you believe it is.

Not horrible though, just disposable light weight aussie comedy.

Do your self a favor and hire it on video its just a great movie and very funny also any bens films are worth a see ive seen em all

I can't believe I have never seen or ever heard about this film before. To impress a girl at his school, a boy trades in his car for a Jaguar from a crooked second-hand car dealer. It was just a good-spirited, funny and delightful film to watch. I also must admit I loved the fact that I have shot a film at that very car park where the boys work, and it was located on the street I used to live, so I have some personal connection to the locations as well. This aside, it is intelligent, amusing, and keeps the pace going throughout the film.

It was the first leading role for Ben Mendelssohn and a spirited performance by Claudia Karvan. It is also good to see Steve Bisley performance. It can be hard for me to shake his role in Police Rescue and Water Rats, but I have seen him in more and more films recently during his early career, and I have to admit he had a substantial part of building up Australian cinema.

I first this movie as an early teen and immediately identified with Danny Clark. I have watched this movie numerous times since and still feel this eclipses the Castle, the Odd Angry Shot and Malcolm as the greatest Aussie film ever.

Essentially, Danny Clark (Ben Mendehlson) wants a car and a girl ... and both seem very unlikely.

This movie follows the nervous and unsure Danny in his attempts to attain both the girl and the car at the same time but what follows is a complete comedy of errors and schemes.

Ably assisted by his two best mates, Van (Remember those days when Greeks drove Monaro's?) and Mark, Danny conceives a plan to get even with the rogue car dealer that has "ruined his life". The deception of the car dealer, Gordon Farkas, is probably no surprise to any of us who have trawled Parramatta Road in Sydney and the like in trying to find that perfect set of wheels! Danny must also find recompense and we follow his valiant attempts to win over the gorgeous Joanna Johnson. Claudia Karvan is one of the most gorgeous and attractive Australian actresses and watching this as a young teen had me instantly falling in love with her too! The characters are identifiable to all of us that watch this movie and we immediately identify with the underdog from that first scene. His off-beat parents add that real quirky Aussie humour we all know and love and along with the over protective future father-in-law, Danny is sure to have a hard time attaining his girl.

For me, however, it was the performance of Steve Bisley which made this movie. As exaggerated as his performance may seem it is not unlike any of the dodgy car dealers you see operate their 'craft' on places like Parramatta Road. Indeed, Steve Bisley notes in commentary that he spent weekends at these yards to research the role and almost got sucked into buying a car himself! This is without doubt one of those born roles not unlike Burt Reynolds in Boogie Nights and it would seem Bisley is doing the car industry a disservice by staying an actor!

The soundtrack is perfect and songs like 'Dancing in the Storm' by Boom Crash Opera are memorable in being music of the time and place of this movie. I still get goosebumps watching the scene when this song comes on and sadly, have even tried to recreate this by playing the same song in similar situations!

My sad personal life aside, this movie has affected me and many Aussie guys and without a doubt, perfectly describes the adventures of our teens. The saddest thing of all is, you never learn and still get sucked in every time you buy a car or get a girl!

If ever there was a great duo , it would have to be Ben Mendelsohn and Claudia Carvan. This movie is a down to earth , no rubbish , personification of youth in Australia. I have seen this movie many times and still want to see it over and over again. True Blue Aussie humour at its best.

I am Danny, and yes, I did have a girlfriend named Joanna who I was desperate to impress. My friends were there too: Alex, who actually was Russian but hung out with a group of Greek petrol heads, did indeed drive a Monaro - a Limited Edition in burgundy - and fancied himself something of a Lothario. My other good mate Peter would hate to have been told he was just a bit nerdy, but he was, and he worked part time at a parking station behind the cinema strip in Sydney while we were studying Engineering and going out and trying to impress the girls and all those things you do when you are 19 or 20.

My parents aren't perhaps quite as eccentric as the parents of the movie Danny, but they are close, and certainly keen on Scrabble and wordplay, and while there wasn't actually a Nissan Cedric in the family (it was actually a Mazda) it was a family in-joke. They also happened to be friends with some of the people involved in making this movie, so stories about my misadventures with the Jaguar, and Joanna and so on obviously got back.

The strangest thing it was then to see the movie, in company with several of the people whose lives were depicted, when it first came out. We had no real inkling of where the story had come from, beyond "hey, it is about a boy with a Jag, like yours". So many scenes I'd lived through (and some I only wished I had) were up there on the screen. And so many in jokes, like the reference to the Jensen Interceptor (which Peter had), and the horror of being caught driving a Volvo. Joanna really did say "nice car - what is it?" and "I'm not really into cars", though to some extent her character is an amalgam of the real Joanna and another girl I went out with (who had a father in the property development game, and who did front me to tell me what he expected and what would happen if I misbehaved with his daughter). The Jaguar really did leave me in the lurch in the middle of the Cross and on several other occasions, and undergo an engine swap, and there's too many others to list. Farkas was a lot like the bloke in the Eastern Suburbs to whom I traded the Mazda on the Jaguar too: Steve Bisley may not have met him but he really nailed the character.

In fact in the end I came out of the cinema thinking "how did they know all about that" and "I didn't think I'd even told Mum and Dad some of that stuff", and with my friends asking the same question. That is how close to the truth it was.

My view of it all is therefore coloured, but I did really enjoy it. It really is a picture of a time I remember with fondness, and in some respects where it didn't quite happen the way it is depicted well, it should have.

This Australian (semi) comedy drama is from the same people who made and produced the lively and charming 'Malcolm'. However, this is about a shy teenage lad who gets given his father's old and much loved family saloon, as his first car.

That, though, has no girl-pulling power whatsoever and as Danny (Ben Mendelsohn) has set his sights firmly on the lovely Joanna (Claudia Karvan) and since Danny's always loved and dreamed of Jaguars, he forges his Dad's signature and trades in the beloved Nissan 'Cedric'.

The lovely Jag he buys from smarmy sales proprietor Gordon Farkas (Steve Bisley) blows a push-rod on its maiden journey, on his first date with Joanna. Faced with the humiliation of getting her covered in oil, he's yet to tell his father of the bad deed, let alone will ever be likely to repay the huge repayments, now on a car that's going to cost a fortune to repair.

This is where the story takes off, or would if it had the horsepower of a Jaguar, rather than the poodling pedestrian pace that Cedric might muster. It's obviously meant to be rather a gentle and slight movie but the charm that is promised never materialises, maybe because most of the characters are not really very nice but then again, not overly villainous enough.

It does offer, in an (older) family orientated flick a peek into the pains of adolescents but even Mendelsohn, as Danny cannot muster the enthusiasm and charisma that his role requires. An alternative that immediately springs to mind would be Michael J Fox and that would raise the bar a lot but stretching the flimsy premise to over 95 minutes is pushing it. There is some mileage in the car-seller's dubious nocturnal habits as Danny and his friends find new ways to humiliate and embarrass the preening, self-promoting Farkas.

Maybe if it had been made to cater for an adult audience, it could have been far more edgy and risqué. But overall it's just an old under- powered Nissan of a film, when it's screaming to be an XJS.

Jaguar lovers may get a bit more out of it but my copy, that is part of the 12 disc 'Australian Cinema Collection' is very unlikely to get played again.

It doesn't matter if you like teen movies or not , once you have seen the Aussie version of this genre you will forget all the rest. Ben Mendelson and Claudia Carvan make you fall into the plot as a teen couple from different sides of the school yard who eventually fall in love. However , as with all teenage boys , Danny Clarke (Mendelson) cant resist the fallacy of having to find a way to impress the girl and win her love, and you guessed it , it involves a CAR ! A jaguar no less ! Anyway , with the help of his friends they get the car of his dream only to realize that they have been ripped off by the car yard he bought it from. Needless to say, the girl is not impressed by cars, and the resulting chaos of getting back at the car dealer ends up in a hilarious comedy of everyone chasing each other around. I still remember this film as the one that made me fall head over heels in love with Claudia Carvan.... Didn't You ?

One of the funniest films I have ever seen, and another triumph for Nadia Tass and David Parker after 'Malcolm'. Ben Mendelsohn as Daniel and Claudia Karvan as Joanna are wonderful, but the standout for me is Steve Bisley as the hilariously named Gordon Farkas, a sleazy used-car salesman with a rather embarrassing little secret. Marshall Napier and Maggie King are also delightful as Daniel's parents - the scene where they are playing Scrabble is particularly funny. Mendelsohn and Karvan recently appeared together in the outstanding TV series 'Love My Way'. (Damon Herriman also appears in the series.) If you haven't seen 'Love My Way' and you love these actors, buy/hire the DVDs NOW! You won't be disappointed.

But that doesnt mean it's good, far from it in fact. Steve Bisley steals the show, but the rest of the acting is abysmal, beyond in fact. You have been warned.

Everything from the sound track, to the clothes, to the hairstyle just reeked 80's/90's Australia. Great cast, decent script, bogan and wog humor, it just doesn't get better than this.

I'm not saying it's the greatest Australian movie, far from it, but it is a great non-offensive light entertainment.

A glimpse into a particular time and period of Australia. I would go as far as saying this The Big Steal is like a documentary on the Australian culture during the 80's/90's. Not the story, but the lifestyle. If only the Australian film industry can bring out some more of these quality feel good comedies. I mean i love a depressing tale about something or other as much as the next guy.. and lets face it, Australia pumps a lot of these visions of depression.

I guess there isn't a market for Teen Romance/Comedies in Australia no more.

Great Aussie movie with lots of good car chases. I've always rated to film very highly

This brilliant gem of a comedy from 1990 would have to be one of the funniest classic Aussie comedy!

It's great to see Melbourne sites and cars from the late 80s.

Casting is soooo good !

Steve Bisley as the crooked second hand car salesman is soooo funny in show casing the cliches about these salesmen.

Claudia Karvan, 18 years old, is also wonderful just like the other friends in the gang!

The parents for both the young man and the coveted girl are absolutely delightful characters !

All in all, a very enjoyable movie well put together.

What's interesting is how it stood the test of time or is it because of the nostalgia watching life 30+ years ago ?

Whatever it is, it's so much fun to watch and laugh!

Brilliant Aussie movie from the early 90s. So many great one liners that still make me laugh to this day. Great to see all the old cars, clothes and hairstyles too lol.

From the creators of Malcolm, and before the days of the Castle comes this 1990 film which was one of Ben Mendelshon first film appearances.

Having loved trains, I was drawn in from the opening scene where a train drives past the residence of Danny Clark, our shy teenage hero of the film.

Wanting to impress the girl of his dreams, he tells her that he has a Jaguar motor car when he asks her out. She agrees to go out with him and now he has to buy the said jag and it is a roller coaster ride from there.

Set in early 90's Melbourne this film is a must for any proud Aussie film buff and although Steve Bisley's hairdo would be an inditable offence these days, the file will not disappoint.