Criminal Ways (2003)
8/10
Oh, my stars, what a laugh riot! Loses a bit of steam at the end, but generates huge chuckles, mostly
23 February 2011
Danny (Nick Giannopoulos) took singing and dancing lessons as a child and made it to the Australian Gong Show at a young age. However, doing his John Travolta act, the sneering judge, Jimmy, not only gonged him but gave him a big fat zero and told him to take karate lessons. However, now an adult, Danny still gives dance lessons with his stage-mother mom, although his pupils are sometimes less than impressed. One day, Danny gets a great offer. Four men, unbelievably, hire Danny to turn them into the next "Wiggles" group, for they want to entertain at rich folks parties. Sizing up the talent in front of him, Danny realizes he has much work to do. However, slow-witted Dan doesn't have a clue as to the men's real plans. That is, they are criminals and they want to crack the safe of an extremely rich lady during her kid's party. Danny sticks with the plan, mostly because one of the men's sisters, Kirsty (Isla Fisher) is so pretty and engaging, with a darling son. Will the robbery happen? Will these tough-looking dudes really sing and dance, as the Wannabees? How about Danny, will he learn the awful truth before the performance? This is just a laugh riot of a film, from Australia. Giannopoulos is tremendous as the dimwit Danny and Fisher is charming, too. But, the rest of the cast is equally marvelous, from the thugs to all the others. Watching one of the men try to ape Eminem and another, James Brown, will have you rolling on the floor. Yes, the plot goes a bit haywire at the end and the running time is a bit too long. But, for the most part, viewers will hardly be able to contain their grins. One caveat, the language is just terrible so don't let the little ones near it. However, if you wanna be happy tonight, get the great Wannabees, which you may have to find under the title, Criminal Ways.
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