Idiot Box

Aussie slackers Kev (Ben Mendelsohn) and Mick (Jeremy Sims) pad out their unemployed Sydney existence by downing beers, watching telly, and dreaming of doing something "big and meaningful." Unfortunately, this dumb and dumber duo have difficulty working the remote, let alone rising to any significant occasion, though they do eventually hit on one novel money-making scheme: robbing a bank. Of course the two manage to muck that up as well, inadvertently targeting a bank that real robbers have their sights on, and hence, one upon which an entire contingency of stake-out police are now bearing down. Much shooting ensues. As long on style as it is short on substance, this Trainspotting meets Reservoir Dogs meets Dog Day Afternoon meets--well, you get the picture--brings nothing new to the genre's table. Leads Mendelsohn and Sims are convincingly thick, but this "comic tale of the young and useless" is as disposable as our 'heroes.' A weak optional purchase. (S. C. Sickles)