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Critical Review

Critical Review of Love in Limbo

When faced with the more contemporary reviews of Love in Limbo found on the Internet, which is the only reviews that can now be found, you get, at best, a few “worth a look” reviews, “Russell Crowe is so cute in this film" or "Played for laughs" and no real explanation or detail into why you would to see it, other than because it has Russell Crowe in it. It seems the film is not too highly regarded by most, with few even recommending the movie and even less explaining how they came to the conclusions they did. Check out the links below or do a search for past Russell Crowe films to find out what I mean.

http://www.us.imdb.com (Internet Movie Database)

http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Cinema/1501/index3.html (Maximum Crowe)

http://www.crowechicky.com/movies/love_in_limbo.htm (CroweChicky)

(And any other Russell Crowe site)

In the opinion of the author of this text, I argue that the film is part of Australian Cinematic History and is, therefore, worth more than just “a look”.

As Western Australia’s first Film Finance Corporation funded film, Love in Limbo rarely receives the accolades it so richly deserves. With the WA film industry being very limited in the first place, the soon-to-be-defunct Baron Productions being the only real experienced in-house film production company, WA has always lacked the facilities to show off the large amount of dedication, rich locations and outstanding talent that the state has in abundance. Rarely does the state get the opportunity to be a part of a national release feature film, thereby contributing to the Australian National Cinema scene and shaping a piece of WA culture into the echelons of cinema history.

Love in Limbo’s definition could be best described as a nostalgic comedic look at love in the 1950’s. Many web sites and reviews try to categorise this film into “Romantic Comedy”, to which I disagree. The film has no real romance happening to any of the three lead characters of Ken Riddle (Chris Adams), Barry McJannet (Aden Young) and Arthur Baskin (Russell Crowe). There is romance between Gwen Riddle (Rhondda Findleton) and Max Wiseman (Martin Sacks), however the focus of the movie is not entirely centred on them, as in traditional romantic comedy, but rather the three boys, who stumble their way through relations with the opposite sex, as all teenagers do. The categorisation of the film as a romantic comedy is somewhat limiting Love in Limbo, which offers a lot more than the traditional “boy meets girl” mentality.

The film portrays an entertaining look into Australian life in Perth in the 1950’s, which means it is not only a “must see” for anyone interested in the 1950’s culture of Australia, but also for anyone who lives or has lived in Perth and is film motivated, or even anyone who wants to theorize their parents behaviour when they were younger, in an Australian context. Of course, above all else, the film portrays the innocence of youth and the complexities of adult life, juxtaposing the two alongside one another in dramatic form, all the while maintaining a light-hearted, comedic outlook on life.

In terms of the general production value of the film, there were no real advancements in technique or design that the movie spearheaded. In defence of the director, Ben Elfick, I believed he was correct in doing so. To try and tell this particular story in, for example, a style more reminiscent of Baz Luhrmann, would lose the basicity of its plot and story line. The cinematography of the film is not unlike that of Newsfront (1979) of which Elfick, of course, was the Producer and one of the writers, which gives the film that traditional, straight-forward feel that it needs to portray the plot correctly.

For example, in the scene where Ken and Barry take Ivy (Maya Stange) and her friend Maisie (Samantha Murray) to the drive-in picture theatre, we see all the youths and patrons dancing in front of the screen. Now, if it were an over-done over-choreographed dance scene as in the dance scenes in Moulin Rouge (not saying they were bad in any way, in fact that was the tone of Moulin Rouge, which is why it was so good), the general feel for the rest of Love in Limbo would be shadowed by this scene and seem out of context. The more realistic approach to the dancing, which was the actual dance moves in style at the time (and done remarkably well in my opinion), kept the film in a more subtle and subdued tone, keeping up with the rest of the film.

Something that Love in Limbo did seem to “spearhead”, however, was its general style. If you deconstruct other popular Australian films of the mid-to late 90’s, in particular the big two of 1994, The Adventures of Pricilla, Queen of the Desert and Muriel’s Wedding, you notice that the basic revealment of the plot and story, are very much the same. If you look at things like the general feel of the films, the cinematography, the realism and basicity of the plot and storylines, the way colours in costuming and set design are used to reflect the plot and emotions of the characters to a certain extent, the subtlety of the humour and plot development and so on, you notice a correlation in the way these films are produced and portrayed. Love in Limbo, in my opinion, is for these films, what The Cars that Ate Paris (1974) is for Mad Max (1979)

I personally enjoyed Love in Limbo immensely. Sure, it was no big blockbuster or huge action flick, or even a story to bring tears to your eyes. It is, however, a nice blend of many genres giving it a nice feel, something to that makes you, the audience, feel comfortable. If I wasn’t giggling or laughing, I was smiling, from start to finish. It is a piece of Australian Cinema History that is constantly being over-looked and it is an essential piece of Western Australian Cinematic History, where it is also over-looked and not given the respect the film deserves. Ultimately, it was the one thing that I think is still the most important factor in judging and reviewing a film… It was entertaining.

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