The Honourable Wally Norman (2003)
Directed by Ted Emery
(by Lindsay Kepics)
Critical Review and Bibliography
Part I: Film Information
FILM: The Honourable Wally Norman (2003)
GENRE: Comedy
CLASSIFICATION: Australia M 15+
RUNNING TIME: 84mins
CAST
Kevin Harrington
Alan Cassell
Shaun Micallef
Rosalind Hammond
Nathaniel Davison
Octavia Barron-Martin
Tom Budge
Bryan Dawe
Melissa Madden-Gray
Paul Kelman
Reg Evans
Greig Pickhaver (aka HG Nelson)
as Wally Norman
as Willy Norman
as F. Ken Oats
as Dolly Norman
as Myles Greenstreet
as Laurie Norman
as Normie Norman
as Richard Nicholls
as Rebecca-Jane Thompson
as Garry
as Barry
as the Chairman
CREW
Director
Scriptwriters
Executive Producer
Producer
Associate Producer
Line Producer
Cinematography
Production Design
Casting
Production Company
Studio Distributors
Video Distributor
Ted Emery
Andrew Jones
Rick Kalowski
Emile Sherman
Jonathan Shteinman
Rick Kalowski
Barbara Gibbs
David Foreman
Rita Zanchetta
Gregory Apps
Ocean Pictures
Becker Entertainment
Magna Pacific
RELEASE DATES
Sydney Film Festival (premiere)
6 June 2003
Australian Cinema
13 November 2003
Video Release Date
31 March 2004
*I was unable to find any over-seas release dates*
BOX OFFICE & BUSINESS
The Honourable Wally Norman was financed by the SA Film and Finance
Corporation and was produced for AUD $3.5 million. The film had only grossed
AUD $176,911 in Australia as of 6 April 2004.
REVIEWS
Reviews for the film The Honourable Wally Norman vary greatly; many critics hailed
the film as a feel-good Aussie “battler” story, while many others panned the film as
one of a list of films that missed the mark in 2003. Below is a mix of the positive and
negative reviews for the film available on-line.
1. Andrew Bunney of db Magazine Online:
http://www.dbmagazine.com.au/317/fr-HonourableWallyNorman.html
“'...Wally Norman' is as seriously biting and subversive as it is funny,
pitting 'the battler' against 'the system.' The corrupt and malodorous
aspects of our corporatised parliamentary democracy are shown through
running jokes, heavy innuendo and some pretty strong language, all of
which will endear this film to keepers of the true Australian spirit.”
2. Review by Matt Byrne
http://www.messenger.net.au/Pulse/htm/wnorm12.htm
“This is a small film with a big heart, about the meaty cut-throat world of
federal politics seen through feral rural glasses.”
3. Review by Jonathan Dawson of ABC Tasmania
http://www.abc.net.au/tasmania/stories/s989298.htm
” 2003 has been a bad year for movies that have tried to play on the
beloved Aussie stereotype of the little battler…In all, The Honourable Wally
Norman adds up to a disappointment and even set against less successful
recent genre movies looks thin and more than a little tired.”
4. Review by John Curtis of PopPlanet
http://www.popplanet.biz/story.jsp?id=305
“Another Australian film that has the charm and humour to make it
Popular with the general public… As we go along with his journey the
characters of his family and community come out as being so stereotype
Australian that you just have to laugh.”
5. Review by Marjorie Lewis-Jones of Insights Magazine
http://insights.uca.org.au/reviews/dvd-vhs/hijk/honourablewally-norman-the.htm
“Here's one for when you've had it up to here with Australian politicians
and you need a movie to confirm (in a light-hearted sort of way) how
dodgy the whole political system in this country has become. There's a lot
of good intention here and some apt casting so the film is agreeably
watchable despite the soggy satire. Aussie Yes Minister it tries to be but
fails — lacking the requisite teeth.”
6. Review by Peter Mattessi, television and film reviewer for The Age’s Green Guide
and Metro Magazine
http://peter.mattessi.com/australian-film/when_good_comedy_goes_bad/
“The problem is that this story, with a wonderful Kevin Harrington at its
core, has to fight gallantly to even be told. The Honourable Wally Norman
is so laden with standups, comedians and celebrities that as soon as we
begin to get close to Wally, we’re snatched away for another over-the-top
comic sketch, leaving us, in the end, wondering whatever happened to the
lovely little story that first intrigued us.”
7. Review by Rebecca Whalen of The Blurb
http://www.theblurb.com.au/Issue35/WallyNorman.htm
“But despite its flaws, the film has heart…However, it seems to lack The
Castle’s charm and wit, a fault that lies more with the script than the
actors or director, who have all proven themselves thoroughly entertaining
with the right material.”
8. Review by Clint Morris of Movie Hole
http://www.moviehole.net/reviews/1136.html
““The Honourable Wally Norman” mightn’t have deserved to be a box
office sensation, it might’ve even made about as much money as it might
have had the punters been more receptive to local product last year, but
what it didn’t get and should’ve is a little more praise… Witty, likeable,
well-performed, it’s easily a step-back in the right direction for a fledging
local industry.”
9. Review by David Stratton of Variety Magazine (July14-20, 2003 Vol. 391 Iss. 8
Pg. 30)
http://proquest.umi.com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/pqdweb?did=374315741&sid=2&
Fmt=4&clientId=9874&RQT=309&VName=PQD
“Screenwriters Andrew Jones and Rick Kalowski have come up with a
serviceable premise, but more work should have been done to beef up the
material and make it genuinely pungent and clever; the endless off-color
jokes on the name of the town are proof of the general poverty of original
wit.”
INTERVIEWS
I was very surprised at the lack of interviews available on-line with the cast and crew
of The Honourable Wally Norman. Below are the interviews available on the internet
today. To hear what more members of the cast and crew had to say about the making
of the film, watch the special features found on the DVD release of The Honourable
Wally Norman.
1. Interview with Shaun Micallef in Empire Magazine Online
http://www.shaunmicallef.com/articles/empire.html
“But working with Kevin Harrington was a delight. The other great thing
that came out of the experience was the day the three of us together
assembling the press kit. Out of that came an idea for making a film in the
style of It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World starring a who's who of Aussies
comedians.”
2. Radio interview with Rick Kalowski and Andrew Jones on the World Today (21
November 2003)
http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2003/s994720.htm
“ANDREW JONES: We've seen the film about 20 times with 20 different
audiences, all of whom have responded well and yet that doesn't translate
at the box office. So that's disappointing.”
ON-LINE PRESENCE
Although The Honourable Wally Norman is referenced in almost 10,000 web pages
on-line, very little is actually said about the film. The same information appears over
and over and over again in the reviews: cast and crew members, similar synopsis of
the film and whether or not the critic enjoyed this version of the Aussie “battler”
story. There are few interviews available on-line to provide more insight into the
making of the film than what is already available in the reviews, and since this movie
appeared to be a box office flop, few writers include The Honourable Wally Norman
in their literature on-line as an example.
Part II: Critical Review of Film and
its Literature
REVIEW OF FILM
The Honourable Wally Norman is an “aussie battler” tale where a small town meat
worker makes a run for the Australian Parliament and has to fight dirty politics and
dirty politicians along the way.
Wally Norman (Kevin Harrington) is just a simple fellow living and working in the
South Australian town of Givens Head, a “town built on meat.” Wally lives happily
in Givens Head, where he is chief meat inspector at the meatworks in town and works
with all of his best mates. However, things change when politician F. Ken Oats
(Shaun Micallef) of the Total Country Party accepts a bribe and allows for the meat
works to close. Now Wally and all of his friends are out of the job and down on their
luck.
The town looks to a likeable grassroots politician named Willy Norman (Alan
Cassell) of the Australian People’s Party and his assistant, an up-and-coming
politician named Myles Greenstreet (Nathaniel Davison), to win the seat in Parliament
over Ken and reopen the meatworks. It appears as if the Australian People’s Party has
a chance of winning the seat until and inebriated Willy mistakenly puts Wally’s name
on the nomination ballot, which cannot be changed.
Desperate to win the seat, Willy and Myles ask Wally to run against Ken as “a man of
the people.” However, the furthest thing from Wally’s mind is running for a political
position- he doesn’t even like politicians let alone aspire to become one. Wally is
more at home in a pub with his mates as opposed to being in front of a crowd, and the
mere thought of public speaking is enough to make him faint. When Willy and Myles
suggest to Wally that if elected, he can reopen the meatworks and give all of his mates
their old jobs back, he agrees to go on the campaign trail.
Willy takes Wally under his wing and shows him how to talk and act like a politician;
Willy teaches him to shake hands, kiss babies, and most importantly avoid the
questions being asked. But despite all of Willy’s coaching, Wally still puts his foot in
his mouth in front of the press on multiple occasions, causing the media to question
his competence.
Along the way Wally begins to fall into the political traps laid out by his opponent
and his coach, and he appears to lose sight of why he is running for a political position
in the first place. He slowly begins to lose touch with his family and his mates as
reopening the meatworks seems to have taken a back seat to other political issues.
With the help of his wife and his two kids, Wally remembers who he is and what is
most important to him; he starts acting like Wally Norman again and not the Wally
that Willy created.
In the end, Wally is able to overcome the trials set out before him by Willy and Ken,
and he wins not only the seat in Parliament but his mates back as well.
The Honourable Wally Norman is an entertaining film with a great comedic cast, and
it leaves the audience with a sense of satisfaction. The film’s use of satire and parody
makes The Honourable Wally Norman an enjoyable comedy, yet the fact that the
film’s plot is not very unique might be the reason why it did not make the move into
foreign markets. All in all, I enjoyed the film and would recommend it as a rental.
CRITICAL UPTAKE
From film reviews alone it is hard to tell what the critical uptake of The Honourable
Wally Norman was at the time of its release; however, the box office figures suggest
that the film was a flop despite the comedic all-star cast. Yet despite its failure in the
box office, The Honourable Wally Norman did receive award nominations and
honours. The film received a 2004 APRA-AGSC Screen Awards nomination for best
soundtrack album for the song Back Home to You by John Bartholomeusz and Colin
Swan, and an Australian Film Institute (AFI) nomination for best actor in a leading
role for Kevin Harrington’s portrayal of Wally Norman. Also, The Honourable Wally
Norman had the honour of being chosen as the opening film at the 2003 Sydney Film
Festival.
PREVIOUS WORKS
The Honourable Wally Norman is not the first time director Ted Emery has worked in
comedy. In fact, Emery is thought to be one of the best comedic directors in Australia
today, working on hit shows like Kath & Kim (2004), The Micallef Program (2001)
and Fast Forward (1989). Emery is also known for directing the film The Craic
(1999), another comedy.
The Honourable Wally Norman was the first screenplay that writers Andrew Jones
and Rick Kalowski wrote together. However, it is not the first time that they have
worked together on a project. Both men worked on NewsWorld (2004) as a co-head
writer and the Big Bite (2003) as a co-creator and writer. Kalowski also wrote for the
programs Sample People (2000) and Comedy Inc (2003).
Executive Producer Emile Sherman and Producer Jonathan Shteinman are known for
their work on the drama Rabbit Proof Fence (2002) and comedies The Night We
Called it a Day (2003) and Ned (2003). Shteinman has also worked on the comedy
Thank God He Met Lizzie (1997) and the drama Angel Baby (1995).
Kevin Harrington played David Bishop on the TV series Neighbours (1985) and
played Kevin Findlay on the comedic TV series SeaChange (1998). He also appeared
in the comedy The Dish (2000).
Alan Cassell has appeared in the comedy Strange Bedfellows (2004) and the TV
series SeaChange (1998).
Shaun Micallef is known for his comedic work on the TV series Micallef Tonight
(2003), Welcher & Welcher (2003), The Micallef Program (1998), Full Frontal
(1993) and SeaChange (1998). He has also appeared in the films Bad Eggs (2003)
and Aquamarine (2006), both comedies.
AUSTRALIAN FILM
Since The Honourable Wally Norman is only three years old, its uptake today should
be the same as it was in 2003- lukewarm. Not enough time has passed, nor have the
themes of popular films changed enough that the viewing public would yearn for this
version of the Aussie battler when so many more popular versions of the battler are
out in the film world.
Although it was met with favourable responses at various film festivals, The
Honourable Wally Norman was essentially a box office flop. Various critical reviews
have suggested that The Honourable Wally Norman was one of many battler stories
made during the early years of the 21st century, further suggesting that audiences were
simply tired of seeing films on this topic and where ready for a new story to grace the
big screen.
The Honourable Wally Norman, though not a hit with the Australian box office, is a
very Australian film. The themes of mateship, the hailed Aussie battler, and having a
poke at politicians are all prevalent in this film. Wally would do anything to help out
his mates, therefore he agrees to enter the world of politics- a world in which he
knows he does not belong. He is the underdog in this story, going from meatworker
to political candidate and having to battle against men who have made politics their
careers. And the “true” politicians are parodied so as to appear sleazy and selfpreserving.
RELATION TO GENRE
According to The Concise Oxford Dictionary, as quoted in Popular Film and
Television Comedy, comedy is “stage-play of light, amusing and often satirical
character, chiefly-representing everyday life, & with happy ending (cf. TRAGEDY),”
(Neale 11). And furthermore, satire is “often confused with parody…where
parody…draws on- and highlights- aesthetic conventions, satire draws on-and
highlights- social ones…satire works to mock and attack,” (Neale 19).
Using the definitions from above, The Honourable Wally Norman appears to be the
quintessential comedy. In the film, an average, every-day man is put in a situation
where he is expected to lose, but in the end he triumphs. He wins back his family and
friends, as well as the seat in Parliament, and is able to reopen the meatworks which
was his goal from the start. Wally’s success leaves the audience with a sense of
satisfaction.
What separates this film from other genres such as drama is the use of satire in The
Honourable Wally Norman. The characters in the film, mainly Willy and Ken, are
satirical representations of politicians today. They are sleazy to an extreme- taking
bribes, selling each other out to the media, making campaign commercials that can’t
be described as anything but satirical representations of real-life campaign
commercials. Satire is used throughout the film to both mock and attack politicians,
politics, and the way both can corrupt simple yet good individuals such as Wally.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Neale, Steve and Frank Krutnik. Popular Film and Television Comedy.
Routledge. London. 1990.
2. www.imdb.com (The Honourable Wally Norman)
3. www.arclightfilms.com (The Honourable Wally Norman)
4. http://thecia.com.au/reviews/h/honourable-wally-norman.shtml
5. http://www.abc.net.au (The Honourable Wally Norman)