lastliberal
Forget Chuck and Larry. When you have Ralph and Vince, you have it all. These two made for some of the funniest comedy I have seen out of Australia.Vince (Paul Hogan) has tax problems and the Australian government has just passed a law that allows same-sex couples a tax break - and it's retroactive. Scheming to save his arse, Vince convinces his best mate Ralph (Michael Caton) to pretend to be a same-sex couple to get the break.Laughs ensue as they try to hide their secret from the local town folk, and get ready for an audit to prove they are actually gay. They enlist the help of the only know gay in town, predictable the hairdresser, and find out a clever secret he has been hiding. He helps them, and they go to Sidney to immerse themselves in gay culture before the tax man cometh.While this is going on, Ralph's daughter is coming for a visit to introduce her partner. Everything comes together at the Fireman's Ball with Ralph and Vince, the whole town, the hairdresser, and a select few from Sydney, and, oh yes, Ralph's daughter and partner coming together.Great fun!
tastyhotdogs
Simply one of the worst Aussie movies ever, and that's saying something.Paul Hogan and Michael Caton star as a couple of mens men who stumble across a wacky idea. Vince (Hogan) is facing some business tax problems. One day he discovers there are some great tax cuts for gay couples. Desperate, he asks his buddy Ralph (Caton) to pretend they are living together and are gay so they can get the required tax relief. Sounds funny right? Wrong. You'd think these two Aussie comedy legends could pull this off with ease, but working with a pathetic script some homophobe probably wrote in 1962 made it tough. There were plenty of unbelievable scenarios thrown in eg Ralph's visiting daughter, a community dance, all of which fell flat on their face. I know of a few older people who appreciated it, but anyone under 39 who sees this will probably start giving themselves paper cuts just to break the boredom.
spurry
I'm surprised that other comments haven't harped on this - but Paul Hogan's performance was absolutely terrible. I thought the film was otherwise very good, but every time Paul Hogan spoke in the film, it reminded me of my High-School musical acting days. I could never "get into" the story because Hogan was so terribly unconvincing.His acting was just simply devoid of any realistim and skill. I could barely grimace a single smile during the entire film. What I liked most was the performance by Caton and the gay hairdesser. They were fantastic... in fact, everyone was convincing except Vince. Vince, so badly so, that it ruined the entire film.
australian_skeptics
Set in the heart of country Australia, with a short journey to Sydney in the middle of the film, Strange Bedfellows tells the story of two close friends, Vince (Hogan) and Ralph (Caton) who cook up a plan to take advantage of a new law that gives tax breaks to Same Sex Couples. Trouble is, Vince and Ralph are as totally straight and must 'camp it up' it order to convince the government's tax inspector (Postlethwaite).The laughs come thick and fast as Vince and Ralph, do what it takes to learn how to appear gay. The reaction of the locals and the great scenes set in a Sydney gay disco are only some of what makes this movie a winner. However the jokes, even the outrageous ones, are never at the expense of the gay community.This is the funniest movie Paul Hogan has starred in since the original 'Crocodile' Dundee. He and Caton are a wonderful double act, supported beautifully by the rest of the cast, including a manic band leader in the final scenes, set against the back drop of some of Australia's most picturesque countryside. The ending works very well with all the loose ends, twists and all, being tied up.Paul Hogan was a TV star in Australia long before the world met 'Crocodile' Dundee. Michael Caton is also well known to Australian TV viewers with memorable parts on many shows, from soap operas to comedy.
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