ANGST
SYNOPSIS:
Dean (Sam Lewis) is an aspriring screenwriter, works in a video store and is angst-ridden
about his failure in relationships, especially as his last girlfriend, Jade (Jessica
Napier) told him he was lousy in bed. One of his customers, the goth girl, May (Abi
Tucker) becomes an unlikely friend, while his other friend Ian (Justin Smith) works in a
Kings Cross adult bookshop, which a street kid attempts to rob with a fake gun. He turns
out to be not-so-bad Mole (Luke Lennox) whose next move is to steal the VCR…
"Audiences outside the 15-25 age bracket Angst is squarely aimed at won't find
much to take away from this disappointingly familiar tale of twenty-somethings attempting
to find love and happiness in between cappuccinos and horror videos. The 23 year-old
former video store worker Anthony O'Connor's script admits to being about cliches but
sadly does nothing to subvert them as the uninteresting central story of Sam's quest for
happiness unfolds. Clunky, self-conscious dialogue dooms this attempt at gritty and witty
grunge which strives for that indefinable "edge" that makes this type of fare
click. Unfortunately it comes up blunt. Sam and his story might be boring but there is
some compensation in the characters of Ian who's caught between westie culture and inner
city groove, cheeky street kid Mole who evokes sympathy and Jade whose attempts to rid
herself of a cardigan-wearing boyfriend are amusing until a silly argument about cat
visitation rights undoes the good work. Debutant director Daniel Nettheim has made short
films indicating much more promise than what's ended up here. Hopefully he will find more
substantial subject matter in the future. This may find an audience with the age group it
has been tailor made for but Angst has the aura of trying too hard to do it all right and
getting it mostly wrong in the process."
Richard Kuipers
"You can see from the way it's written that Angst would be a tantalising
screenplay, with its hand on the youth pulse, its setting of Sydney's cosmopolitan Kings
Cross, it's characters searching for their slot in the race track of life . . . But you
can also see that it's still an immature script (in both senses) and needs a guiding hand
to realise its potential. It is also a wordy script, which is a big challenge for first
time filmmakers, prone to turgid patches and lack of energy, boring dynamic. It has comic
intentions, but the comedy is limited and blunted by the film's inability early on to
engage us with the characters. On the other hand, Justin Smith, Abi Tucker and Jessica
Napier display their innate talents by working their roles into something credible and
interesting. In short, the ideas in the script, and its sense of fun, are somehow buried
in the film. It may, of course, work as a date movie, as couples will not be riveted to
the screen, able to concentrate on their real objectives, undistracted by the film - which
they can return to periodically."
Andrew L. Urban
"The premise shows promise – lonely, sexually frustrated young man becomes
introspective and depressed when his girlfriend dumps him. He is writing a screenplay in
his spare time, using the colour from his video shop work environment to spark ideas. The
screenplay teases, but doesn't quite engross us, failing to make the characters real or
textured enough to hold our interest. Dean longs for responsible-free sex, facial hair and
hedonism. Jade has her hair dyed green – presumably to match her name. Much of the
film is set at night in the sleaze of Kings Cross, and while the target teen market may
relate to the setting and get a few laughs from some of the dialogue and situations, Angst
is a frustrating journey. In some ways it gives a good slice-of-life view of carefree
youth, yet the lack of dynamics and structure in the script let it down badly.
Performances are excellent – Jessica Napier has great screen presence as does Abi
Tucker while Sam Lewis captures the frustrations to a tee. My biggest frustration was that
I really didn't care enough for the characters. When Dean meets up with his internet blind
date and finds himself in a coffee shop with two twelve year olds, this situation holds
enough promise to make you squeal with delight. But when his precocious date flings a milk
shake all over him, we not only fail to see the action, due to a questionable choice of
direction, but also fail to sympathise with him in any way. The title is deserving of a
more emotional response."
Louise Keller
"Like beauty, angst is often in the eye of the beholder. What to one person may be
a major life crisis can be little more than a trivial inconvenience to someone else.
Daniel Nettheim’s Angst follows the lives of four post-teen, pre-20 somethings
searching for their place in the world. Their search revolves around money, jobs, drugs,
sex, booze and pop culture. The trouble is the characters’ fumbling attempts to come
to terms with these things will probably seem rather juvenile - petty even - for anyone
who’s been around the block a few times. As a result, a number of scenes lack spark,
and it becomes difficult to fully empathise with the characters. Still, there are things
to like about Angst. There are moments of snappy dialogue, likeable humour and shrewd
social observations; and the film has an appealingly grungy look, in keeping with its
Kings Cross locale. Sam Lewis imbues Dean with just the right mix of depressed ennui and
mischievous cheekiness. He’s a smart arse with a heart. Jessica Napier is strong as
Jade; although her character becomes lost amidst Dean’s increasingly desperate
efforts to find what he seeks. But I just didn’t buy Justin Smith as Ian, the
"westie" looking to make it in the city. His near faultless diction and
baby-faced looks (both assets for an actor, I hasten to add) conspire against his
character’s believability. Abi Tucker is much more credible as May and proceeds to
dominate just about every scene in which she appears. In the end, Angst is an uneven youth
film but it shows enough to mark Nettheim as a director to watch."
David Edwards
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CRITICAL COUNT
Favourable: 0
Unfavourable: 3
Mixed: 1
Andrew L. Urban goes ON SET
TRAILER



ANGST (M)
(Australia)
CAST: Sam Lewis, Jessica Napier, Justin Smith, Abi Tucker, Luke Lennox
DIRECTOR: Daniel Nettheim
PRODUCER: Jonathon Green
SCRIPT: Anthony O'Connor
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Tristan Milani
EDITOR: Martin Connor
MUSIC: David Thrussell
PRODUCTION DESIGN: Tara Kamath
RUNNING TIME: 85 minutes
AUSTRALIAN DISTRIBUTOR: UIP
AUSTRALIAN RELEASE: August 31, 2000
VIDEO DISTRIBUTOR: Universal Pictures
VIDEO RELEASE: February 7, 2001
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