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Horseplay (2003 film)

Horseplay
Theatrical Release Poster
Directed byStavros Kazantzidis
Written byStavros Kazantzidis
Allanah Zitserman
Produced byAllanah Zitserman
executive
Bruno Charlesworth
Martin Fabinyi
Michael Gudinski
StarringMarcus Graham
Abbie Cornish
Tushka Bergen
Jason Donovan
CinematographyDavid Eggby
Edited byAndrew Macneil
Production
companies
Release date
  • 22 May 2003 (2003-05-22)
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
Box officeAU$140,550 (Australia)[1]

Horseplay is a 2003 Australian Comedy drama film, written & directed by Stavros Kazantzidis and co-written & produced by Allanah Zitserman, starring Abbie Cornish and Marcus Graham. The film is set around the famous Melbourne Cup horse race, in Melbourne, Australia.[2] The film was released on 22 May 2003.[3]

Plot

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Lovable rogue Max Mackendrick dreams about winning big on the Melbourne Cup. Set in the colourful world of horseracing, Horseplay follows the chaotic life of a wannabe horse trainer as he deals with the turf, the ladies and everyone else out to get him.

Max is married to Alicia, daughter of a horse trainer. He is banned from a race track. In order to raise some money, he fixes a raise by having the wife of a jockey kidnapped.

Cast

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Production

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The filmmakers said they were inspired by Jacobean theatre and Ealing comedies of the 1950s. Shooting began on 5 November 2001 and finished seven weeks later.[4]

The film was part of the initial slate of five films from the Macquarie Film Corporation, others including Dirty Deeds, The Nugget, Crackerjack and Takeaway.[5]

Reception

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On the SBS Movie Show David Stratton called the film "a disappointment after the generally entertaining Russian Doll. Burdened with too many characters and too many sub-plots, plus too much violence and 4-letter dialogue, the generally excellent actors have little chance to bring the characters to life, added to which just about everyone in the film is extremely unlikable. The tone is uneven, and though there are some amusing scenes, and it's handsomely produced, this is a horse burdened with just too much baggage."[6]

Soundtrack

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  1. "Would I Lie to You" – Deborah Conway
  2. "Every 1's a Winner" – Kate Ceberano
  3. "The Thrill Is Gone – Renee Geyer
  4. "Everybody" – Abi Tucker
  5. "The Payback – James Brown
  6. "Now That We've Found Love" – Third World
  7. "I See You Baby" – Groove Armada
  8. "I Just Wanna Be Loved" – Etherfo
  9. "You Took All I Had" – Etherfo
  10. "Watch My Lips" – Nigel Westlake
  11. "Relax Max" – Nigel Westlake
  12. "Would You Kill For It" – Nigel Westlake
  13. "Race Fixing" – Nigel Westlake
  14. "Till Death Us Do Part" – Nigel Westlake
  15. "Torpedo" – Nigel Westlake
  16. "The Train Ride to Hell" – Nigel Westlake
  17. "Don't Move" – Nigel Westlake
  18. "Just Drive" – Nigel Westlake
  19. "Horny Ed" – Nigel Westlake
  20. "Ecstasy" – Nigel Westlake
  21. "He's The Guy" – Nigel Westlake
  22. "Case Dismissed" – Nigel Westlake

References

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  1. ^ "Australian Films at the Box Office – Report to Film Victoria" (PDF). Film Victoria. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 February 2014. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
  2. ^ Iaccarino, Clara (21 May 2003). "Fixing the Cup". The Sun Herald. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  3. ^ Mattessi, P. (2003). The Problem of Character in Horseplay. In Metro (Melbourne) (Number 138, pp. 62–64). Australian Teachers of Media Inc. (ATOM).
  4. ^ "Horseplay Production Notes". The Cinematic Intelligence Agency. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  5. ^ 'Australia's Macquarie sets 5 features for initial slate' Blake Murdoch 10 July 2001 Hollywood Reporter
  6. ^ Stratton, David (1 January 2009). "A disappointing follow up". SBS.
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