Undescribable Perfection

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

The acting in this movie is really good.

So terrible it is embarrassing that this is an Australian production. I took my elderly father to see this when it was in the theater and there was only 3 others there!! Tushka Bergen was awful her acting was so wooden, terrible and Jason Donovan was shocking. These people are an insult to the Australian acting community. Thank goodness Tushka Bergen, Jason Donovan and Marcus Graham NO longer act because they can't! Do yourself a favor and don't bother. You probably won't be able to find this movie but don't waste your time to even look - it was complete rubbish and if I could give it a 0 I would. The story line is poor, not funny and didn't make any sense, and is just appaulling!

I absolutley loved this flick! Fast paced, good script, great actors, good looking girls- what more could u want?! The setting for this film is great, the colourful world of the race track definitely provides a lot of scope to be explored and Kazanzidis definitely did this! From the sleazy old guys to the young, bitchy but beautiful girls, all characters that could be covered were! Thoroughly entertaining!

I was lucky enough to score a freebie to this. Not lucky because I got to see a great film. I didn't. Lucky because I didn't waste my money. I try to support Australian films because when they're good, they're great. When a new comedy appears. I always hold out a faint hope that it might just be another Strictly Ballroom or Muriel's Wedding. Horseplay was far from it. The story is mostly watchable, but the characters are unlikeable, and often annoying. There is too much hysterical screaming. There's a suspect touch of misogyny in the portrayal of the female characters. The most interesting role is Jason Donovan's - a selfish airhead. Probably his best performance ever. Who would have thought?

Why do all contemporary Australian moviemakers suddenly want to make the next Pulp Fiction? Here's another example that brings to mind You Can't Stop The Murders from a few months back. It had a great premise (all the characters from the Village People - Indian, cowboy, bike rider etc. getting bumped off with the policeman next unless he solves the case) but the script and direction were, well, appalling. Here the direction is better, but the script is still heavy-handed, plodding and instead of being zappy is just plain dumb. The premise - a loser who wants to prove he's somebody by throwing the Melbourne Cup horse race - had potential. The acting isn't too bad either. But once again there's all this unnecessary nasty violence (it's cool! it's now! it's groovy kids!) and teen girls with wigs and guns (how very Tarantino) mashed in and the film just stalls at the gate. It's hard to imagine who this will appeal to, but one thing is for sure - there's unlikely to be a sequel.