Save Your Legs

Sure, it follows a team of amateur Aussie cricketers as they embark on a tour of cricket-mad India. But in the slight, amiable bromantic comedy, Save Your Legs!, the game plays second fiddle to the game of life, with the players gradually recognising and embracing the fact that there may be more important things than what takes place on the pitch. Of course, any tale of mateship and sportsmanship among 30-something blokes is going to take a crooked (and occasionally crook) path, and Boyd Hicklin's film – inspired by his own documentary about a Melbourne team's eventful Indian tour – does occasionally lean a little heavy on cliches and stereotypes. But for the most part, it's a lively, likeable tale of underdogs and ratbags, with Stephen Curry's cricket-mad Teddy striving to keep the team's so-called glory days rolling on, even while his mates Stav (Damon Gameau) and Rick (Brendan Cowell, who also wrote the screenplay) find themselves taking on the responsibilities of the real world. There's a real sense of camaraderie among the actors (there's also great work from Darren Gilshenan as stats-mad Col and David Lyons as team shaman Prince), and Hicklin's direction has a winning pace, energy and style. And maybe it's just a personal preference, but any movie that closes out with a Bollywood dance number – even one where finesse takes second place to enthusiasm – is doing something right.

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