Let's Get Skase

Inspired by a late-show's segment where they raised money to pay for a bounty hunter to return an infamous con-artist of the grandest scale, this film is full of that bizarre Australian humour that just can't be done anywhere else in the world. It wasn't quite what I expected and as such I possibly enjoyed it less than if I had no expectations, but it was on the whole an enjoyable film.

The movie has a good mix of real and fictional events. It reflects much of the sentiment here in Australia about Skase, who fled to Spain with millions of dollars of other people's money. It's also quite prophetic, off-handedly predicting that Skase would fake his own death, which I believe to have happened.

For me, icing on the cake is that the majority of the external shots were filmed in my home city -- a rare event.

How this will be received outside of Australia is anyone's guess. Unless you've been following the real chase for Skase a little more closely than just water-cooler talk, you're unlikely to appreciate some of the movie. Subtle integration of minor fictional and real events may be lost on you unless you're familiar with the actual real players and real events.

This is a movie I went to, to support the local film industry. Also because I wanted to see some people kick the crap out of Skase, even if it was only fiction. I enjoyed it. I would imagine that many people who were adversely affected by Skase would also enjoy the majority of it. Your mileage may vary.