What makes a movie a hit? I've seen the most pathetic movies that have made millions. On the other side of the coin, there are those movies that are great that fail miserably at the box office. Mr. Reliable is such a movie. I remember when it came out, critics raved about it. I don't remember seeing one negative review. As a result, I made up my mind to go see it, only to have it vanish from theatres a week after its release: I missed it.

Happily I've been able to amend this state of affairs since Mr. Reliable is now out on video. It traces the story of Wally Mellish (Mr. Colin Friels) who engineered Australia's first hostage crisis. Contrary to what one would think given the basic premise of the movie, this is a comedy. It is based on the events that took place in western Sydney in January 1968 when Wally, his girlfriend Beryl (Ms. McKenzie) and her son kept police at bay for over 5 days. It's hard to imagine how this could be a comedy but the siege takes on a carnival atmosphere and Wally becomes something of a folk hero.

This is a low key movie with great performances from everyone. Mr. Friels is just right as Wally, a bit of an idiot who continually finds himself in trouble but is a very likeable chap. Ms. McKenzie as Beryl probably has the hardest role: it's difficult to understand why she gets involved. She manages, however, to give the impression of someone just caught up in the moment, that all of this seems to be a bit of a lark. She notices as the situation becomes more serious but never fully realises the implications of what's going on.

The auxiliary characters are also good: I particularly enjoyed Mr. Barry Otto as the Premier. Good too, were the neighbours although I could have done without the son's coming of age scene. Less convincing were the reporters. I guess we needed to see the human face of the media but it seemed extraneous and distracting from the more interesting relationship of Beryl and Wally.

Last year was a fantastic one for Australian movies, both in terms of the box office and quality. Although Mr. Reliable suffered in terms of the box office, it did not lack in quality. This is definitely one of the better Australian offerings of 1997.

Rating: D