Review: The Merger

The history of Australian comedy film is the history of a bunch of knockabout larrikins who band together to defeat the bad guys. The Castle: larrikins vs development. Crackerjack: larrikins vs development. Kenny: larrikins vs the development of social taboos around defecation. And so The Merger is also about a band of larrikins getting together to - literally - tackle a worthy foe. Only this time, the foe is far more insidious than a stink that'll outlast religion.

Troy Carrington (Damian Callinan) is a local legend for all the wrong reasons. A star AFL player (until he broke his leg running through the Grand Final banner) and environmental activist who got the local logging mill shut down (earning him the nickname “town killer”) he’s not exactly well-loved in his small country town. The terrible wine he makes isn't winning him any friends either.

So when the local footy team looks set to close due to lack of players and an asbestos-filled clubroom, nobody – but especially not club legend Bull Barlow (John Howard) – wants Troy to take over. Thing is, Troy has the skills, the know-how, and after he meets Sayyid (Fayssal Bazzi), the plan: why not look to recruit new talent from the town’s rapidly growing resettled refugee population? But even when he does take over, there's the little matter of entrenched racism to be overcome before the new team can really start operating as one.

The result for both Troy and the film is never really in doubt. But this warm and gentle crowd-pleaser benefits greatly from a well-polished script from veteran stand-up Callinan (who initially toured it as a one-man show), alongside a well-utilised rural setting and a likable cast of relative unknowns. It's remarkable what a difference a decent script can make to an (Australian) film: while this doesn't exactly aim for the moon, it accomplishes what it sets out to achieve - a solid comedy with a strong run of decent laughs and enough story to make the characters more than joke machines - with a verve not often seen on the (Australian) big screen.

It doesn’t gloss over the frictions between refugees and conservative rural Australians either: there's enough real friction here to make the inevitable victory seem hard earned. But it doesn’t dwell too deeply on the divide either; it turns out everyone’s welcome in this plucky band of wacky misfits – unless, of course, you’re a dickhead.

- Anthony Morris

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