Based on the semi-autobiographical story from Andrew McGahan, Praise follows the irregular relationship between the chai-smoking asthmatic Gordon (Fenton) and insecure eczema victim Cynthia (Horler), as they help one another through the grim situation each has wandered into.
Their relationship is based on unending drink, drugs, sex and games of Scrabble. Director John Curran presents the oddball couple in a tender and humorous light that engrosses the viewer with the characters and their self-destructive lives.
Praise is the perfect antidote to the soppy romantic comedy. Charting a relationship on the nosedive, doomed to failure from the outset, Praise is both charming and tragic in equal measures. Gordon and Cynthia, the hapless couple of lonely hearts at the centre of the story, are instantly endearing.
At first glance, the pair seem a perfect match. Cynthia’s cut-throat directness and casual attitude is just the thing to coax the awkward Gordon out of his shell. And Gordon, patient and reserved, seems the ideal candidate to round off Cynthia’s harsh edges. A passionate relationship follows, but a heated honeymoon period of sex, drugs and drink takes its toll on the couple. It’s not long before the relationship, both mutually beneficial and incredibly destructive, begins to implode.
Filmed on a shoestring back in the late 90’s, this offbeat Australian drama has aged well in the ten or so years since its first release. The direction, intentionally crude and rough around the edges, helps to place this engrossing story in a self-contained bubble. It may be set in Brisbane, but accents aside, this is a tale that could have been told in any shady underbelly of any town or city.
Gordon and Cynthia are both written beautifully, endearing and infuriating all at the same time, while an impressive gallery of supporting players help shape out the story. Both Peter Fenton and Sacha Horler are deserving of high praise as the doomed lovers, but it’s the latter who turns in the most memorable performance. As the overweight, eczema ridden Cynthia, Horler offers up an engaging character that sums up Praise’s complicated, shades of grey nature perfectly.
Overall Verdict: An offbeat, unconventional love story that’ll grab you immediately. At times charming, and elsewhere brutal and raw, Praise makes no apologies for itself and is all the better for it.
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Reviewer: David Steele