User Reviews

The only reason I wanted to see this film was its leading man. Barry Humphries who is (disputably) an Australian national treasure is, nevertheless, very much adored in England, particularly for his comedic TV alter-ego, that Australian housewife-cum-superstar, Dame Edna Everage.

Perversely, perhaps, I find the Les Patterson character entertaining, and I find myself laughing (largely out of embarrassment) at his dishevelled appearance and outrageous remarks. Humphries always maintained that he was not being unnecessarily smutty in his comedy, but instead depicting characters of the world as he really saw them. Many have argued that the Patterson character is closer to the personalities of real Australian politicians than people would believe.

Like our protagonist, though, this film is haphazard, and is barely held together by the throwaway and often, unsurprisingly," toilet" humour. It is a film largely in bad taste, and one of the few highlights is the appearance of Humphries' more domesticated alter-ego, the aforementioned Miss Everage, who does deliver some memorable one-liners. What sticks in my mind is the scene of a chaotic rotating restaurant, spinning out of control, at the end of the film, which is pure slapstick gold, and involves, among other things, a koala bear working a control panel. Madge, Edna's faithful sidekick asks her, amid the chaos, if, given the evening's events, their meal will be "on the house", to which Edna replies, "My meal is all over the house!". Look out also for Pamela Stephenson and the late Joan Rivers, who, I imagine, were doing the film out of loyalty to Humphries or money, rather than the script. George Miller's direction of the film is unspectacular, as is the cinematography by David Connell, and the editing is confusing. The music is forgettable, save for Tim Finn's "very 80s" theme song, "You Saved The World". I'm sorry to say that Humphries' own undeniable talents are misrepresented in this film too.

Les Patterson Saves The World (1987) is a film straight from the book of "Ozploitation", a film movement prevalent in Australia in the 70s and 80s which saw the release of controversial films which, with their blend of sex, horror, comedy, and action, revelled in new post-censorship cinematic freedoms. Perhaps my viewing experience wasn't helped by the fact that I was watching what I think was a rather grainy VHS to DVD transfer of the film in 4:3 ratio, instead of the cinematic 16:9 - that it is to say, I was watching it in a limiting "square box" format, as opposed to original "widescreen". I digress. Never mind saving the world, after this I think you would agree that Les Patterson needs saving from this movie, or, indeed, himself!

This is the kind of film that Brit viewers enjoy, whilst Oz viewers usually find it embarrassing or offensive. It's like a very coarse Australian version of a seventies Carry On film, like Vegemite, some love it, some hate it, some think it should be banned.

Every schoolboy joke in the book is thrown into the mix, farting, veneral disease, lavatory seats, impotence from alcohol intake, etc. Time has removed most of the real life figures that the film characters were based on, for those who were not there in the early eighties, the closest to a tasteful joke is when Sir Les is asking Dr Herpes "Do you know where I can find some chicks? Bits of stuff?" to which the Doctor looks blank. Then Sir Les thinks for a moment and says "Research Assistants" at which point the penny drops & the Doctor understands that he is looking for a prostitute! ( A notorious international call girl was technically employed as a Research Assistant at that time).

One little oddity is that here Barry Humphreys plays Dame Edna mostly as a straight part, "her" usual jolly tastelessness mostly absent.

This film will not appeal to those who like witty observational comedy, but anybody who remembers being a pre adolescent schoolboy will love it.