I'd put this Australian film up there with classics The Castle and Crackerjack. It's an absolute gem.
The Merger is set in a fictional regional town called Bodgy Creek, home to Troy Carrington (Damian Callinan), a bloke who locals hate for his 'greeny' views that contributed to the local timber mill being shut down. As regular readers will know, this blog is not a place for long plot descriptions but this one is hard to condense into a sentence or two! Just know that Troy's history as the town's once loved footy hero is rediscovered with a bunch of eclectic local players, including a number of refugees who have settled into the town to mixed local reaction.
Damian Callinan, who is wonderfully understated as Troy, wrote this film based on a one man show he's performed in comedy festivals around Australia so it's got solid comedic bones but is also not without heart and soul. I was really surprised that I found myself crying in this film more than once! But the comedy is of course solid, with stand-up comedian Nick Cody delivering a fantastic performance as Roosters captain, Goober and Aaron Gocs in a smaller but very funny role too. I mean, Aaron's hair alone makes me laugh so that's a good start.
John Howard, Kate Mulvany, Fayssal Bazzi and Penny Cook (yes, Vicki from A Country Practice!) all add their own more nuanced performances too, rounding out a wonderfully talented cast.
I love an Australian comedy and I really hope Australian audiences get behind this film, not for any reason other than how great it is. See it soon, love it, tell your friends.
Trailer here*. In cinemas 6 September.
* I re-watched the trailer when I wrote this blog and thought to myself, I might go and see this one again. That rarely happens!