Year:  2023

Director:  Adam Morris

Rated:  MA

Release:  August 17, 2023

Distributor: HALO Films

Running time: 90 minutes

Worth: $16.50
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth

Cast:
Myles Pollard, Trevor Jamieson, Rebecca Leafes

Intro:
...a charming, highly engaging, imperfect little gem of a film...

Though buddy flicks of various genres abound, genuine films about male friendship – movies that actually forefront the theme, and even position it as plot – are far less frequent. All of this makes the mostly delightful Frank And Frank even more of a treat, and not surprisingly, this low budget Aussie affair is at its absolute best when it sticks to this plot stream, as opposed to the distancing philosophical asides that pull away from its effectiveness.

Frank (a bruised and bruising performance from the superb Myles Pollard, who really goes deep and does quite extraordinary things here) is some kind of motivational speaker who deals in the connections between faith and finance, which is just as obtuse as it sounds. Put on notice by his unhappy wife (Rebecca Leafes), Frank finds himself alone in beautiful rural Western Australia, where he begins to pick through the now sad fragments of his life. Frank finds a little positivity, however, in his burgeoning friendship with unlikely, same-named neighbour, Frank (a wonderfully charming, funny and big-hearted performance from Trevor Jamieson), an artist, storyteller, rifleman and inveterate pants-man, whose own curious world-view provides a little perspective for the moribund Frank.

While its highly pronounced quirks can feel a little forced (a scene where Jamieson’s Frank describes a camel in great detail is particularly irritating, while a lengthy bar-side chat about Winchester rifles is curious but highly distracting) and the (admittedly brilliantly performed) to-camera treatises on faith and finance from Pollard’s Frank are alienating, when Frank And Frank just hangs with its two fascinating male protagonists, it is absolute gold. The dialogue and interplay between the actors is wonderful, and their likeability is off the charts, while gifted writer/director Adam Morris (Edward And Isabella) has a host of compelling, heartfelt, unconventional things to say about relationships, friendship, and life’s priorities. It’s in the grit and pain and warmth of life that this charming, highly engaging, imperfect little gem of a film really shines, rather than its philosophical asides, all of which is perfectly summed up in the film’s full title. Hone in on the touching emotional straightforwardness represented by the main title (Frank And Frank) and ignore the waffle indicated by its pretentious subtitle (wait for it, or the Valley and the Walrus: Ruminations on the Mystery from Soup to Nuts), and you’ll be onto a winner.

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