Film review: Kath & Kimderella

Kath & Kimderella. Rated PG (mild coarse language and nudity). 86 minutes. Directed by Ted Emery. Screenplay by Gina Riley and Jane Turner.

Verdict: A timely reminder not to take ourselves too seriously from the Kath & Kim team.

There were always going to be big expectations of the feature film (or ‘fillum’) version of the hit television series Kath & Kim – the hugely popular series that first introduced us to the foxy Kath (Jane Turner), her self-indulgent daughter Kim (Gina Riley) and Kim’s second-best friend Sharon (Magda Szubanski).

With broad comedic brushstrokes and some wickedly funny observations about style, class and delusions of grandeur, Kath & Kim was often funny and bitingly sharp – perhaps no more so than in the characters of the snobby Prue (Turner) and Trude (Riley), the homewares shop assistants who provided the perfect counterpoints to the ever-optimistic Kath and her difficult daughter.

When Kath wins an all expenses paid overseas holiday to Papilloma, Italy, she takes Kim and Sharon with her. Their expectations of an exotic time abroad quickly turn sour when they learn that Papilloma is a bankrupt municipality ruled by a vain and indulgent King Javier (Rob Sitch) and his page Alain (Richard E Grant). When Kim is mistaken for a princess by Prince Juleo (Erin Mulally), news of another Aussie Princess and her impending royal wedding breaks in Australia, and Kel (Glenn Robbins) and Brett (Peter Rowsthorn) fly to Italy to win back the loves of the lives.

While it is as far from a cinematic masterpiece as you can begin to imagine, Kath & Kimderella certainly has its moments. Emery (who directed the series for television) works wonders keeping the patchy screenplay on track, while the actors are obviously having the time of their lives with all the attendant hijinks.

Riley is still a wonderfully shameless clown – and the extent to which the film works absolutely is the direct result of her excellent work as Kim. And if the “Look at moi” moment comes way too late, it still serves as a timely reminder that it is potentially even more important now than it was when the series premiered (in 2002), that we remember not to take ourselves too seriously.

This review was commissioned by the Geraldton Newspaper Group.