Any Questions for Ben?

Like the mid-life crisis before it, the quarter-life crisis has infiltrated the medium of film. Whilst The Graduate ranks amongst the earliest examples, Reality Bites, Office Space, Lost in Translation and Garden State have perpetuated the topic, with mid-twenties malaise now common in cinema. Any Questions for Ben? places the experience within a local context, courtesy of Australian production company Working Dog. Best known for television’s Frontline and The Panel, as well as previous features The Castle and The Dish, the creative collective contemplate the stress of early adulthood.

Brand manager Ben (Josh Lawson, The Wedding Party) lives life in the fast lane, moving through high-paying roles, inner-city apartments and attractive girlfriends with abandon. A visit to his old high school brings a reality check, with the students more interested in the humanitarian work of fellow alumni Alex (Rachael Taylor, The Darkest Hour) than his marketing prowess. Accordingly, Ben begins to question his choices, finding little of worth in his materialistic existence. Yet changing proves harder than he imagined, even with sparks of romance flying with his former classmate.

From the moment the names of the three-strong writing team appear on screen, Any Questions for Ben? is obvious in its inauthenticity. Whilst director/co-scribe Rob Sitch and his fellow scripters Santo Cilauro and Tom Gleisner achieved success with earlier projects, their status as middle-aged men telling tales of the trials and tribulations of the next generation is painfully apparent, as is the film’s uninspired approximation of the experiences depicted.

Indeed, although attempting a universal narrative, the feature fails to resonate with reality. Questionable choices – including the evident mismatch of life stage and story – plague the presentation, along with an excess of rom-com clichés. The characters are rendered as caricatures, despite spirited efforts from a cast that features Snowtown’s Daniel Henshall and Killer Elite’s Lachy Hulme. In fact, there is little that’s substantial or significant within the film, even as it purports to ponder the meaning of life.

Instead, the movie offers an amalgamation of aerial shots of Melbourne and countless montages to Australian music as padding to the slight action. For a comedy, laughs are awkwardly absent, with the audience given few examples of funny material. As a result, the film feels flat, forced and false, from the meandering direction to the over-extended running time. Whilst Any Questions for Ben? may inspire queries from viewers, most will go unanswered.

Rating: 1.5 out of 5 stars

Any Questions for Ben?
Director: Rob Sitch
Australia, 2012, 105 min

Distributor: Roadshow
Rated M
In cinemas nationally Thursday 9 February 2012