Australia's Best Movie Magazine

Film reviews

Men In Black 3

It’s not a sequel that needed to be made, but thanks to the charm of its leads and a tone that harks back to the wit and humour of the original, it’s a pretty enjoyable trip.

Bel Ami

The excellent female support cast saves this patchy effort, which is let down by its leading man and a flat screenplay.

The Dictator

A disappointing, often repulsive and mean-spirited mess of a film with seemingly only one real criterion on its agenda: to shock and offend.

The Woman In Black

Packed with atmosphere, this old-fashioned but deftly told ghost story delivers ample chills and thrills.

search the site

Enter search term:

newsletter

Enter your email address below to receive the weekly Filmink newsletter

Enter search term:

Griff The Invisible (Film)

by Cara Nash | March 14, 2011 13:40 | Edited March 14, 2011 14:42

Brimming with imagination and driven by disarming lead performances, this ends up warm, funny and surprisingly deeply touching.

At a time when romantic comedies seem to have exhausted unique ideas, Leon Ford's debut feature film Griff The Invisible shines as an original, humorous and heartfelt gem. A bullied office worker by day, Griff (True Blood's Ryan Kwanten) transforms by night into a crime-fighting superhero, stalking the streets and protecting the innocent. It's a task that grows complicated when he falls for a beautiful scientist, Melody (Beautiful Kate's Maeve Dermody), a girl who feels as much of a misfit in the world as Griff does.

 

There are many ways that Griff The Invisible could have gone wrong - Griff and Melody could have been portrayed as unreachable eccentrics, the world Ford created could have felt contrived, etc. - but the film skilfully sidesteps each of these potential pitfalls. Its weapon in doing so is absolute sincerity. Kwanten is totally disarming as Griff, never once playing him for laughs, but layering his character with an irresistible sense of adventure and a gentle melancholy. Dermody plays Melody as warm and smart, and her chemistry with Kwanten is close to magic.   

 

Never coming off as overly earnest, there's always a light, deft touch to proceedings, largely due to Ford's perfectly pitched script. While some may find the humour too tame, and others may complain about Griff The Invisible lacking the special effects of other superhero flicks, this is a film which creeps up and touches you in a surprisingly profound way. Griff and Melody create an alternate world that's believable even when you know that it isn't, and by the end, we find ourselves compelled to ask which world is more real? And does it really matter? Who's really losing out - us or Griff? Ultimately, Griff The Invisible is an ode to those brave enough to be themselves in a world constantly demanding conformity.