Directed by Boyd HicklinMovie Review by Greg Goodsell
Lovable loser Edward “Teddy” Brown (Stephen Curry) lives for his local neighborhood cricket club and his two best friends, Rick (Brendan Cowell) and Stavros (Damon Gameau). Teddy’s world is shaken when the substance-abusing, drunken Rick announces his impending marriage to a girl he recently knocked up. In lieu of thinking there may be more to life than getting pissed on the weekend with his fellow Aussie mates, Teddy leads his “D-string” team to a tour of India. Setting up a three match tour, coupled with the chance to meet cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar, the usual “fish-out-of-water” shenanigans take place. Rick remains a surly, drunken piece of work, Teddy samples some of the local Indian cuisine and spends the majority of finding serviceable areas in which to defecate. Unaccustomed to the chaotic civilization of modern-day India, there is lots and lots of gags surrounding cultural differences. Local lovely Anjali (Pallavi Sharda) is thrown into the mix, and gives the boy something to ogle to perhaps draw away attention from Teddy’s, uh, somewhat inappropriate fixation on Rick. The clueless Australians stumble and fall adorably, and they take up a challenge from an arrogant Bollywood star to take on his cricket team. Everything turns out alright at the end … was there any question it wouldn’t?
Visiting Hollywood’s Amoeba Records DVD section, this reviewer saw a shelf full of discs with the title, “Sports Team is led by a Caring Individual to Victory.” Save Your Legs! Is one of those, and is exceptionally plain and unremarkable in spite of the many exotic locales and unique situations. The cricket team is a bunch of middle-aged losers who spend their weekends drunk and “attempting” to play the game (it doesn’t matter if the viewer doesn’t understand cricket as it doesn’t appear that any of the characters do). Well into their thirties, they cling to youthful hopes and ambitions, but must accept the fact that “the train has left the station” at this point. The guys get into scuffles, patch up their differences, and find plenty of time to look with startled expressions at the culture of India. Save Your Legs! Is painfully predictable, and is intended solely to provide diversion on a weekend night. The closest thing it makes to a statement on the team’s “Peter Pan” syndrome is when Teddy confronts the boozing Rick on what type of father he’ll make for his forthcoming child.
As a result, this reviewer found it perplexing that Save Your Legs! Wound up on the Twilight Time Blu-Ray label. This company in the past has highlighted lesser known films with a usually superb presentation, but the title at hand is SO lightweight and disposable, one can just write this off as Twilight Time’s attempt at luring a different section of the disc-buying public.
The extras on the disc include a 2005 “Save Your Legs!” documentary, a shorter featurette called “Bound 4 India with Ted & Col” and a commentary track with director Hicklin, producers Robyn Kershaw and Nick Batzias and several cast members. As is the case with most Twilight Time releases, the booklet’s liner notes are authored by the indispensable Julie Kirgo.
Save Your Legs! is stale and predictable, but it won’t kill you to give it a spin. Your call --
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