New Zealand films are more often than not confused motion picture which struggle to create their own original style. Often kiwi films try desperately to be offbeat, colourful and original but end up looking prententious, stupid and highly derivative of other more successful movies. Take for example films like The Ugly and Topless Woman Talk About Their Lives both of them try desperately to be original and exciting motion pictures but are pretentious pieces of crap which clearly show how amateur New Zealand can be when making films. To be fair there has been the odd kiwi classic such as the efforts from New Zealand auteur Peter Jackson and the infamous Once Were Warriors but more often than not N.Z puts out confused motion pictures which just try too hard. Such is the case with Mark Beesley’s ho-hum romantic comedy which thinks that it is a wild and original effort, when it is nothing more than a story we’ve seen several times before, only with a new background.

The film is a story about a family of westies (for non New Zealand readers westies are usually leather-clad bikers) who though rather rough-around-the-edges and a bit quirky are a caring well meaning family. The two parents Mickey Savage(Nicholas Eadie) and Louise Savage(Sophia Hawthorne) on an impulse decision decide to go on a second honeymoon (this is where the film gets it’s title),unfortunately for them their teenage children and Mickey’s mother manage to come along for the ride without being noticed initially. This sets the scene for some potentially comical situations and perhaps a fairly entertaining yarn.

Unfortunately Savage Honeymoon suffers from the typical flaws which often plague New Zealand films. The film tries to establish an original and offbeat comic tone but it always feels forced and very self-conscious. Often comical scenarios are established competently but never played out to their full potential. It’s like a series of good set-ups for jokes, only each one’s punch-line is seriously weak. To make matters worse the material is very lightweight and not terribly original. It’s one of those films in which a married couple experience some troubles, break-up and predicably get back together by the end of the movie.

Even the potentially novel idea of having a biker family as the characters is botched. These characters are far too idealised ‘westies’ as these actors all look too good. The actors prance around posing staunch but fail to achieve authenticity as it is obvious throughout that they are indeed acting. Only Ian Mune in a colourful role as an officious manager of a caravan park is convincing.

Savage Honeymoon is at least a fairly entertaining movie even if a very flawed and forgettable one. Unfortunately it becomes yet another kiwi film which simply tries too hard to be quirky and as a result fails miserably.

2 STARS