‘Scam’ Review

Stars: Kestie Morassi, Ian Rooney, Mark Jensen, Paul Moder, Paul Havea, Matt Norman, Carter Doyle, Stuart Orr, Scott Gooding, Barry Sparkles | Written and Directed by Cameron McCulloch

Originally shot in 2001, director Cameron McCulloch (operating on a shoestring budget of AUS$ 5,000) made Scam. The action-comedy film about a scam artist named Kim (Kestie Morassi), who plans to steal AUS$1million worth of jewellery, despite fierce competition from rival gangs (including her ex-boyfriend Ben), all to impress her mobster father (Ian Rooney).

Prior to its anticipated release, McCulloch’s efforts went up in smoke, literally, as most of the original footage was lost in a house fire… or so we thought. It seems McCulloch heeded the words of Knackers O’Conner, (one of Scam’s principal antagonists, played by Mark Jensen): “Did you, or did you not, say you we’re gonna do this job?!” Well, 20 years later, McCulloch did do his job and brought Scam to the world for its viewing pleasure.

Scam is very much a product of its time (the early noughties), and it is unashamedly proud to showcase its love for 90’s crime movies, particularly Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction as well as Guy Ritchie’s Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. However, in doing so, it loses sight of what it promises to deliver to its audience: a heist story that explores the dynamics of the father-daughter relationship. It is not even made clear that Kim plans to steal (as do the other criminal gangs) AUS$1million worth of jewellery until the third act. Throughout the film, we are also deprived the experience of the emotional arc between Kim and her father, despite him being a principal antagonist and the reason why she wants to undertake this heist in the first place.

Structurally, the story is mapped out like the chapters of a book (presumably in homage to Tarantino’s style of filmmaking) that explores the various subplots as driven by secondary and tertiary characters, yet it fails to connect those subplots to the main plot. It is this constant lack of cohesion which makes it difficult for the audience to understand these characters and appreciate their motivations.

Clearly, the cast and crew had a lot of fun making this film, and that comes across in the final cut. Yet, there were times when the comedic elements felt more like an inside joke that the audience was not privy to. The reason for this is that the jokes had not been effectively set up and paid-off. “Beware the Borris” is a prime example of this. Now, while this may be a joke of its time or some esoteric reference known only in Australia, the point is that it’s not clear to the audience why it is funny, but the characters are all in on the joke.

This is not to say that Scam didn’t have its moments. Take Bob and Dale, the hapless detectives introduced to us while investigating the death of Paul Moder’s Guy, the masturbating clown (yes, you heard me). It’s funny that Bob’s apparent motivation for avenging Guy’s death is because the masturbating clown was, at some point in his career, regarded as an artistic genius at kid’s birthday parties.

Bumbling assassins, Stretch (Paul Havea) and Miguel (Matt Norman) have some genuinely funny moments together where Stretch misappropriates Miguel’s “imported Norwegian mustard” and spreads a generous helping onto his sandwich. Miguel’s reaction, holding Stretch at gunpoint and demanding he hand the sandwich over, is funny.

Ben’s pencil-thin moustache which looks like “shit on [his] lip” had all the makings of being a strong source of comedy because of how it drove the conflict in Ben’s subplot, but it was never fully realised.

There are other examples throughout the 83-minute feature which evidences how the film’s comedy suffered due to its poor execution and, unfortunately, it felt as if the audience would be “laughing at” rather than “laughing with”.

Scam is an ambitious project and it’s fair to say that the script needed more work, particularly in respect of those characters who ostensibly had significant roles to play. Carter Doyle’s Matty, Ben (Stuart Orr), as well as criminal trio Knackers, Leonard “Fingers” Smith (Scott Gooding) and Dick Penisface (Barry Sparkles) are all examples of such characters who weren’t as fleshed out as they needed to be if they were to have had the desired effect on the narrative.

We are introduced to Matty in the middle of a break-up with his nymphomaniac girlfriend, who realises there’s “more to life than having sex on a grand piano”. In a strange twist of fate, Matty becomes Kim’s sidekick when she breaks into his house one night. He is later pegged as being her love interest and therefore a prime candidate in raising the stakes for Kim. Yet, their relationship is never built up and therefore Matty does not have any real impact on the overall story.

Kim introduces the other principal antagonists (Ben and Knackers et al.) to the audience and we are led to believe that they will be a major hindrance to Kim’s journey. Yet, Ben’s interactions with her lack a certain sting despite his relationship with her. He is more of an irritating little brother rather than anything else. Knackers & Co. suffer a similar treatment too. While we see that they are nasty, ruthless criminals none of their menace is directed at Kim, meaning neither her decision-making nor ability to pull off the heist is affected in any way by them. The danger, therefore, is that their involvement feels underwhelming and, at times, unnecessary.

Scam is a movie that has some good ideas (albeit require fleshing out) but is ultimately let down by its execution. That said, it is unfair to call into question the capabilities of Scam’s cast and crew as creative professionals on the basis that this project was made over two decades ago. Since then, its material contributors have featured in high-profile work and therefore ought not to be criticised based on their involvement in a project which was filmed during the early stages of their careers.

** 2/5

Scam is distributed by Bounty Films and is available to stream on Amazon Prime, Google Play, YouTube Movies and Vimeo On Demand. It is also available on DVD and Blu-ray.