Danny Deckchair

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I liked this a lot. Funny and not run-of-the-mill. (You could call it a romantic comedy, even, but it takes place in Australia with real Australians, which makes it a refreshing romantic comedy.) It's about a guy who accidentally flies away in a deckchair attached to huge helium-filled balloons. He ends up far away and starts a new life.

I won't address here the problem with many romantic comedies, namely the question of why we should believe that the old relationship is so wrong and the new one so right; and what is going to make the new relationship work--forever! or for a year or so, if it involves high school kids--when the old one didn't? Perhaps I'm overthinking the romantic comedy genre, which is about the beginning of a relationship, and only incidentally about the end of one, sometimes.

Anyway, recommended, especially if you enjoy Australian accents, watching people drive on the wrong side of the road, and hearing lots of strange shortenings of words. We are all familiar with the Australian "barbie," as in barbeque, but what about "footy" for football and "brecky" for breakfast? My kids would fit right in; they call tennis shoes "tennas."

Comments

  1. IvySunday, September 24, 2006 5:26:00 PM

    I tend to over think those romantic comedies sometimes too. I'm always skeptical about the new relationship working out, especially when the old relationship(s) were soooo bad. Have you seen that movie with Ashley Judd and Hugh Jackman (the old cow theory one)? I can't remember the name. Anyway, talk about screwed up people. She is so needy, so emotionally unstable and the guy she wants is a total jerk. Then she falls for Hugh Jackman who is a male slut...anyway, the big kiss at the end doesn't really convince me that they're going to live happily ever after. I do love the romantic comedy genre, however. I even liked watching that movie I was just complaining about. What can I say? Oh, and the makers "Danny Deckchair" must not have watched Mythbusters when they busted the myth about being carried away by helium balloons! They needed like 3500 or more to lift a little girl a few feet! That was a lot of balloons.

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  2. ErinWednesday, September 27, 2006 3:33:00 PM

    Yes, I've seen that movie. It was called Someone Like You, I think. Some romantic comedies are better than others at developing the relationship and showing how they'll overcome things later on. And some just develop the characters enough to make you think it'll never work. I don't think the Danny Deckchair people were too concerned about reality in that part. They had him flying through a thunderstorm and later crashing to earth when some fireworks hit some of his balloons. It looked fun, though. He used HUGE balloons, too, which made it look more possible. Do hot air balloons use helium or something else?

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  3. ivyThursday, September 28, 2006 4:30:00 PM

    I thought hot air balloons used a torch or something the heat the air. I've always thought it was regular air, but I don't know. Daniel would know, wouldn't he?

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