Idiot Box tells an all too possible story of two perpetually unemployed bogans who decide to rob a bank after watching one too many movies and drinking one too many VBs.
The two lads are Mick (Jeremy Sims) and Kev (Ben Mendelsohn), they spend their days killing time by making minor mischief while they await the next dole cheque. One typically unremarkable day spent lamenting their lot in life and deriding the efforts of cinematic crims they hatch a plot to rob the local bank, then over the ensuing days set about prepping their big heist.
Unfortunately even the best laid plans of a couple of drunk idiots would rarely be described as a masterwork, especially when the local police are already a little on edge, what with a violent gun-toting masked robber already terrorising the suburbs.
Idiot Box gives quite an accurate view of suburban malaise, especially the more mundane aspects of drinkin’, talking shit and watchin’ telly – ever notice how no-one seems to watch TV in movies? But there is a reason that this is hardly glamorised on the big screen, for too many of us the more boring aspects are our day to day existence and hardly fodder for escapist entertainment.
Ben Mendelsohn is a whirlwind of misdirected energy as Kev, a troubled individual with distinct anger issues, and Jeremy Sims is fine as the slightly deeper – but still not especially deep – Mick.
Final Rating – 6 / 10. Idiot Box is a reasonable but hardly revolutionary film, it is perhaps best remembered as having a soundtrack produced by You Am I’s Tim Rogers, unfortunately with good reason, as the film is merely a relic of a bygone era.
