Directed by Paul Currie

I have recently read reviews of ?One Perfect Day? and they were quite complementary so I thought maybe I was being too harsh in not wanting to watch this Australian film so I bit the bullet and sat in front of the television and was deeply disappointed that I bothered. I thought, it has Dan Spielman in it and he was so cute in ?The Secret Life of Us?, it can?t be that bad. I should have gone with my gut feeling. There were certainly better ways to spend over 100 minutes of my time.

?One Perfect Day? revolves around talented musician Tommy Matisse (Dan Spielman) who is studying music at the Royal Academy of Music in London but he is feeling stifled by the classical nature of the course. He has left his girlfriend Alysse (Leanna Walsman) and his sister Emma (Abbie Cornish) at home in Melbourne. Alysse is herself a budding musician/singer and they plan to write an opera together down the track.

The only problem though is that Alysse has got hooked into the whole Rave scene and the drug taking associated with it. Emma is desperately missing her big brother too and so to cheer herself up on her birthday goes to a club with Alysse and dies from a drug overdose. Emma just wanted to talk to her brother on the other side of the world and Tommy was listening to every other sound around him and couldn?t hear his sister?s cry for help, The drugs were given to her by budding video producer, Trig (Nathan Phillips).

Emma had a few secrets of her own including an interest in being a disc jockey. When Tommy returns home to greave for his sister everything goes haywire and instead of the tragedy bringing him and Alysse together it drives them apart when Alysse tells him she was there when Emma died. Tommy also sees a positive pregnancy test and assumes that Alysse has been indulging in horizontal folk dancin? with someone else. Alas, it would seem that the romance is on the rocks.

In the meantime Tommy starts to learn a little about the life his sister left behind and starts experimenting with music and sounds and mixing for Hector Lee (Andrew Howard) at one of his clubs. Hector is as seedy as they come and as well as owning clubs he also has a business on the side, dealing drugs. He has also decided that he wants to produce an album for Alysse whose life is spirally downhill from her drug taking. When Tommy and Alysse finally reconcile, Alysse decides to go clean but nasty Hector intervenes in this love story with horrible consequences.

I just couldn?t warm to this film at all, I suppose others may who have experienced the whole Rave scene and are familiar with the goings on. This kind of lifestyle is a world away for me and don?t get me started on the music. All the techno beats and music mixing that goes on is sooooo boring. I have a fairly broad interest in music but the music in this movie was plain hideous and so not only did I have to endure the film but the soundtrack blasting out of the rear speakers as well.

Other than Tommy, all of the other main characters in this film were too self destructive and not at all likeable. The tragedy at the end didn?t even make me batter an eyelid and I am usually the biggest sook on Earth. Kerry Armstrong played Emma and Tommy?s mother Carolyn in a small role and I felt she was wasted in the film. She probably had a total of about ten minutes in front of the camera. With roles this big it is little wonder she can bag Australian success stories like Kylie and Nicole Kidman. She must have plenty of time on her hands. Meowww!!!!

This film has again made me realize that I must be a little choosier when selecting Australian films to watch, it has certainly been a long while since I have really enjoyed a home grown film. I think critics tend to be a little softer on Australian films than overseas ones due to their lower expectations and so as a result rate them higher than what they truly deserve. One Perfect Day is one DVD I will not be wanting to revisit again. That is for sure.

If you have teenagers at home or other young adults (or are one yourself), then they may just love ?One Perfect Day?. I just hope it doesn?t encourage people to check out the Rave scene. There are plenty of drug references too so if you don?t want kids to see that imaginary, this film should definitely be avoided. In fact, many of you may want to avoid it just because, well how can I put it, it isn?t that good. Having the word ?perfect? in the title was very misleading.

THE EXTRAS

Scene Selection is of course available on this DVD (28 scenes to choose from). Other than that there are very few special features on offer. There is a theatrical trailer (runs for just under 2 minutes and gives you some insight into the film) and a featurette entitled ?The Making of OPD?. This doco runs for forty minutes (a little obsessive I feel) and is fairly stock standard. We hear from all the main players both behind and in front of the cameras as they discuss the story, the shoot and the music score. They discussed how they managed to film the Rave scenes without spending a fortune on hiring extras. Overall, it was a little boring. The only thing I found interesting was how the director saw the film and its message and how different it was to my perception of ?One Perfect Day?.

CONCLUSION

?One Perfect Day? is another Australian film that doesn?t quite hit its mark. It has a limited target audience and a rather depressing storyline so it is not a film to watch if you are in need of a pick me up. Tommy Matisse (Dan Spielman) is a talented musician studying his craft in London. Left behind in Melbourne are his girlfriend Alysse (Leeanna Walsman) and his baby sister Emma (Abbie Cornish). Tommy?s world is turned upside down when Emma dies from a drug overdose and he returns home to cope with his grief and deal with Alysse whose life is also on a downward spiral. Tommy then begins experimenting in the lifestyle Emma left behind, disc jockeying, and he is a natural at it. There is plenty of techno music to delight your ears (if you are into that sort of thing). The film does give you an insight into the world of dance parties and the seedy characters associated with them.