Review of Griff the Invisible (2011) by Marcel D — 29 Mar 2011

I'm a sucker for feel-good, quirky movies about outsiders- especially ones about the value of imagination so Griff the Invisible was right up my alley especially because I'm a fan of Kwanten's work on True Blood.

If you have seen Lars and the Real Girl, (a film about a young man's relationship with a sex doll that he believes to be real) you'll have a pretty good idea of how this film works. Ryan Kwanten's character has the delusion that he is a superhero that has the responsibility to defend his neighbourhood from criminals. He watches from his Sydney apartment via his high-tech surveillance equipment and assures the Police commissioner that he has everything under control. The rest of the day, Griff is a socially awkward nobody who embarrasses his brother and is harassed at work by his office nemesis. When Melody comes along, a girl who is as strange as Griff, everything begins to change.

Melody, played by Maeve Dermody, is a particular highlight of this otherwise pretty straightforward film. She is cute and eccentric with a brilliant grasp of her character. She is odd but endowed with an incredible amount of loveliness. Kwanten's characterisation is similar, making Griff wonderfully likeable despite his unconventional behaviour and social ineptitude. Both actors make their characters human, real-world people who just live on the fringe of reality... and sometimes over the edge.

I had a lot of fun in this film. There's some great moments of clever banter between characters with awkward pauses punctuating the dialogue, some enjoyable physical humour and a lot of cute moments. The short bursts of action provide some excitement but are forgotten quickly. Sadly, the longest sequences are shot poorly, allowing for little to be appreciated.

As a love story, the film is warm and sweet but mostly predictable. Hardly a roller-coaster, more accurately a familiar ride but an enjoyable one. Its rare to see an indy film of this nature made in Australia and I hope this encourages more. It has potential international appeal which will hopefully mean that fresh ideas are given opportunities.

Fun. Warm. Sweet.