Brendan Cowell has worn many hats during his long and varied career – script writer, actor, playwright and theatre director – but until now feature film director has never appeared on his resume. Ruben Guthrie finally changes that. Adapted from the play he wrote and directed about a young Sydney partier’s attempt to give up drinking for a year, this film rarely gets under the skin of any of its characters.
Patrick Brammall as the trying-to-go-straight title character comes close several times, mostly when he’s playing opposite Guthrie’s no-nonsense AA buddy, Ken, thanks to Aaron Bertram’s quiet charm, but these characters are mostly clichés, from Harriet Dyer’s underdeveloped Virginia to the outrageously camp Alex Dimitriades – though the latter certainly provides the laughs. There are a lot of glamorous party shots filmed in Guthrie’s expensive waterfront apartment, where cocktails are flowing and the young and beautiful people are having the time of their lives. It’s obvious what audience Ruben Guthrie is aimed at – Guthrie’s nemesis is a young YouTube sensation who drops text speak like he’s reciting Shakespeare. Though the movie aims to speak profoundly about this country’s attitudes to drinking it doesn’t seem to look too far outside a certain brand of young Sydney money-makers.
