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Kenny is your average hard working Aussie bloke who just wants the recognition he deserves. But when your job entails delivering and servicing portaloos, most people won't even look you in the eye, let alone shake your hand. Along with his faithful Splashdown crew he works at every kind of event from truck races to rock festivals, facing challenges at every turn. All his travails culminate in a pilgrimage to the International Pumper and Cleaner Expo in Nashville, or the so-called Pooh HQ. He handles family problems, fatherhood and waste management with charm, wit and dignity, proving that even in sewage, the best always rise to the top.
There are two types of mockumentary; those, like "This is Spinal Tap" that are clearly fictions with a tang of authenticity and those that could conceivably be real, such as "The Office". "Kenny" falls firmly into the second camp. Director Clayton Jacobson has so adroitly captured the style of the fly-on-the-wall documentary that in the showing I saw, two teenagers walked out as one of them complained "You didn't tell me it was a documentary!" That's when you know you've done your job as a director.
The film is shot hand-held on digital video with lots of rough pans and zooms, which creates a sense of reality. In the style of many documentaries, there is an opening montage of the titular character at work with a voiceover from the subject of the film, telling us about his life. We don't see everything that happens, being privy only to vignettes that a documentarian could have collated to tell a story. The result feels like a slice-of-life as there is no strong narrative thrust. This all contrives to make the character and his situation believable. The lighting throughout is naturalistic, as is the style of acting, thanks largely to using a group of mainly non-professional
actors and unknowns. The director begins the film with a quote from Stadtler Lewis "None are less visible than those we choose not to see" that sets the tone for a movie about an unsung hero. He uses a lot of montages to show how Kenny's life pans out and this reflects the documentary style he is aping.
Jacobson clearly loves his main character (handy seeing as the said protagonist is the helmer's real-life brother Shane) and his affection translates easily to the audience. Despite Kenny's job, the director never makes fun of his naivety, honesty or innocence. Just look at the simple joy evinced by his first flight on an aeroplane, or the lack of guile that accompanies his tentative romance with an air stewardess. You get the impression that he wants everything to work out for guy and you will too. The comedy is handled well. Jacobson is willing to throw away jokes one after the other as he is safe in the knowledge that there will be another laconic quip from his leading man at any moment. The less plausible moments, such as when Kenny and his workmates inadvertently join a truck race work because they aren't over-emphasised. The only thing that tips you off that this isn't a real documentary is the frequency of casual jokes that pepper the film. But the result is an enjoyable, funny ninety-nine minutes of well-pitched cod-documentary.
The screenplay by Jacobson and his brother and star Shane is a relatively simple triumph of the underdog story at heart. It is quite fragmented and there is a feeling that what we are seeing is a series of sketches or observations and toilet gags. The only thing that prevents it from being too episodic is the documentary format which means you forgive any tangents or detours from the main story. The characterisation is simple but effective. To some extent Kenny is an archetype; an honest, hardworking Aussie bloke that just wants some respect from the rest of the world and love from his father and son. But he has a distinct personality that renders him likable. His son is embarrassed by what his father does for a living and has been poisoned against him by his mother. Meanwhile his father is an argumentative old meanie, who is aptly described by Kenny; "Dad's emotional bank account had two cents in it." His love interest Jackie initially appears out of his league but has greater warmth than you might credit her with at first.
The dialogue is where the film comes into its own. Apparently Shane Jacobson is a stand-up comedian as well as an actor and this makes sense of the plethora of easy bon mots espoused by his character. The script is loaded with toilet gags and Australianisms that revel in absurdity. One person is described as "silly as a bum full of smarties", Kenny's mother apparently "from the back looked like a fridge with a head" and Kenny's father says of him that he's a "glorified turd burglar". And when he's talking about his work, we hear such gems as "There's a smell in here that'll outlast religion!" and "Today we're going to be busier than a one-armed bricklayer in Baghdad." On his divorce he says "Cut out the middle-man; find someone you hate and give them a house." And that's in addition to referring to toilet paper as "pooh tickets", suggesting someone is "as mad as a clown's cock" and revealing that "things make as much sense as a nun at a rock concert". It's great material that enlivens the documentary concept and makes more of the comedy.
Considering that the role of Kenny is only Shane Jacobson's second stab at acting, he acquits himself well. To be fair the heavy lisp is somewhat annoying at first, but you get past it after a while. His comic timing is excellent and he plays everything straight enough to convince as an everyman character. He comes across as likable, funny, talkative, friendly and good-natured, so you immediately empathise with him.
The supporting cast is an able group, with the Jacobson brothers' real father Ronald playing Kenny's irascible dad as a pernickety, belligerent old swine and another of their family members standing in for Kenny's on-screen son. Chris Davis is suitably neurotic as Kenny's twitchy co-worker Pat and Eve von Bibra is a warm love interest as air stewardess Jackie.
The original music by Richard Pleasance relies heavily on guitar riffs to set mood and emotional tone. The film opens with loose, twangy guitar which is added to by electric riffs which give depth. There are also folksy male guitar solos and twanging guitar and slapping percussion that add texture. Kenny and company's attempts to save their fleet of loos at a truck rally is accompanied by faux-heroic rock guitar, his trip to Nashville with appropriate western guitar and hillbilly folk music. His camping trip with his father and brother features harmonica melodies. This is all contrasted with strident, posh strings for his day at the Melbourne Cup and sad harp for the closing moments of the film, which are then undercut by "Taking Care of Business" for the end credits' final shenanigans.
"Kenny" is a film that will appeal to those who enjoy mockumentaries or have a taste for spontaneous comedy. The performances are suitably underplayed, the script is sharp and loaded with fifth form lavatorial humour. Those of a sensitive disposition should note that there is rather a lot of swearing. I really enjoyed it because it fits with my sense of humour and there is a lot of imaginative wordplay, that though often coarse is funny. And I suspect it will find its natural home on DVD where the directorial style will come into its own.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
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