Housos vs Authority

Review by Anthony Morris

Usually the best thing you could say about a movie like Housos vs Authority is “it’s pretty much what you’d expect”.

But in this case, where it’s a movie based on a local television series that didn’t exactly set the ratings world on fire – reportedly the movie only came about because creator Paul “Fat Pizza” Fenech got tired of waiting to hear if SBS wanted another series, which in TV-land usually means “you didn’t” – how do you know what to expect?

Good news: this is basically the same as every single other television show Fenech has been involved in, only with even less jokes and even more swearing.

Basically, if your idea of comedy is making sure every second word is “fuckin”, run don’t walk to this one.

Though it does help to find funny people in wheelchairs, women flashing their breasts, thieving junkies, welfare cheats, spray-painting Uluru, Julia Gillard watching female porn, hitting police with a stolen car, “you’re fucked in the face” as a running joke, the words “monga” and “spastic”, telling a mixed-race couple to “go make some more grey babies”, a surprise appearance from Chopper Reid, an not-at-all-surprising appearance from Russell Gilbert (playing the brother of the now-deceased Ian Turpie as The Narrator), and... you get the idea, only that list makes this sound a lot more interesting than it turns out to be.

It’s movie length (at 107 minutes it definitely outstays its welcome) and has a beginning, middle and end but otherwise this isn’t so much a movie as it is a collection of swearwords and shouting idiots.

It’s not like the made a crap film by mistake: they just forgot to make a funny one.

1.5 out of 5

Housos vs Authority
Australian release: 1st November, 2012
Cast: Paul Fenech, Ian Turpie, Jason Davis, Elle Dawe, Kevin Taumata, Kiri Schmitt, Vanessa Davis
Director: Paul Fenech