Review of He Died with a Felafel in His Hand (2001) by Post G — 19 Jul 2010

[font=Times New Roman][size=3][color=darkorange]Dir: Richard Lowenstein[/color][/size][/font].

[font=Times New Roman][size=3][color=darkorange]Adapted from the novel by John Birmingham.[/color][/size][/font].

[font=Times New Roman][size=3][color=darkorange]I completely didn't see this coming. I had borrowed this movie ages ago, and there it sat, on my DVD player, as I kept picking other stuff to watch instead of this. It [i]sounded[/i] interesting, but I kept putting it off.[/color][/size][/font].

[size=3][color=darkorange][font=Times New Roman]Last night I threw it in the player figuring it was a late night and I'd watch maybe half of it while I ate a late dinner, and if it didn't catch my interest, I would just return it. (Thank you Netflix for no late fees!) [/font][font=Wingdings][font=Wingdings]J[/font][/font][/color][/size].

[font=Times New Roman][size=3][color=darkorange]What a pleasant surprise this movie was! The plot is very simple, it's just a clip of our main character Danny's life, that takes place over a few months. We follow Danny through a few different shared houses (this takes place in Australia) and we meet the most bizarre, unique, original characters along the way. The great thing is, no matter how "out there" the characters are, we can identify with them in a familiar sort of way. We all have the raging pothead friends, and the goddess-worshipping pagan friends, and the bi-curious friends, and the burnt out druggie friends...well, maybe not [i]friends[/i], but acquaintances. I could go on and on. The scenarios are even familiar as well, at least for those of us who have gone to college and/or lived with roommates.[/color][/size][/font].

[font=Times New Roman][size=3][color=darkorange]All manner of craziness happens here. There is a confrontation between the man-sacrificing, "moonthly"-worshipping, pagan women and a group of neo-Nazi skinheads (with amusing results), a physical tearing down of a rental property, bucket bongs, introspection, relationship hazards, flying meat patties, fried fish fingers...and this is only the first house! Add to that suicide attempts, drama queens (and Drama Queens), credit card fraud, frog golfing, gangster landlords, corrupt cops, and a host of other bizarre ordeals that I cannot even begin to describe. All put together nice and neat and in an entertaining package. Throw in the fact that the main character Danny is A) searching for love, B) trying to write a publishable story, and C) is overall searching for meaning in his life and dealing with the feelings of aimlessness that we all have from time to time, and this not only becomes a highly entertaining movie, but one that leaves us questioning our own wants, desires, and motivations.[/color][/size][/font].

[font=Times New Roman][size=3][color=darkorange]I made up my mind to give this a great review, and before I started writing, I checked out some other reviews, and a lot of them are from Australia and unfavorable. Apparently, this movie is nowhere near as good as the book (movies based on good books rarely are) and it seems like it doesn't hold as true to the original story as it should have. This is just a warning for those of you who have read the book already. I plan to read the book next; hopefully it doesn't destroy my feeling for the movie. In my opinion, this movie stands well on its own.[/color][/size][/font].