n.  Hugo Weaving ~ Reckless Kelly 

AU Movie 1993:     Hugo content: approx  13%   (81 mins )
Sir John ~ Complete and Utter Pom Bastard, Tycoon
Cast: Yahoo Seriou s  Ned Kelly,  Melora Hardin   Robin Banks,  Alexei Sayle   Major Wib, Hugo Weaving .... Sir John,  Kathleen Freeman    Mrs. Delance 
Dir: Yahoo Serious
Availablity: not available in UK. Second hand video available in AU/US: Z-shops, Ebay etc.
Hugo Weaving, Reckless Kelly, Rule Britania

Hugo Weaving: Reckless Kelly Plot/Comments:

Two points: Priscilla had funding rejected by the AFFC, and the NSWFTO cited "stereotyped characters, political incorrectness" and the "deeply shallow" nature of Elliott's films; Reckless Kelly with its Yahoo Serious trademark of quality, Bastard Poms, Boozing Bush Slobs, Wise Abo (TM), Dumbass Yanks and Greedy Inscrutable Japs got funding from both.
   That said, at least it's shot nicely and some of the basic premise has potential.
Hugo Weaving, Reckless Kelly, Sir John
   Yahoo Serious is a motorbike riding, beer-guzzling, modern-day descendant of 'people's outlaw' Ned Kelly. He finds out that the Evil Pom Bastard Banking Conglomerate, fed up with his nicking cash from their bank safes (to give to the poor), is going to sell the family's Kelly Island to the Japs, where it will be moored off Nippon to be used as a golfing park...unless Ned can come up with (Dr Evil voice) One Meellion Dollarrs. 
     The catch being that he can't rob  banks in Oz for personal gain (bad PR), so he goes to the US, which is fair game.
    So far, so promising ~ in, to quote Tick from Priscilla, "a hideous sort of way". 

Comical shenanigans in the US ensue (a couple of amusing possibilities stretched way too thinly): the banks only deal in plastic, so no robberies; a couple of swipes at the Hollywood movie/straight-to-video industries and their love of T&A and guns; a recurring anti-gun theme at its best when two white trash thickies are stuck in a price check for automatic weapons at the quickiemart checkout.
    Problem is, what could have filled a 10 minute TV slot is stretched out for an hour, and god it's slow.

Reckless Kelly Gallery
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Web Weaving
Hugo Weaving, Reckless Kelly, Time Magazine

Typical Hugo Weaving  Quotes:

  • On the beautiful Australian day:"I loathe this weather and I loathe this country"
  • "Now, finds me somebody who can shoot actors"
  • "The island is yours. Sianara" (my sic)

Needless to say, Kelly saves the day and the Cheating Evil Pom is vanquished.
   One of the main problems with the film is that its villain is totally sidelined, occupying less than 10 minutes of screen time. 
    Weaving doesn't have a lot to do other than glower and do the usual Satan-in-a-suit schtick; relegating Sir John to such a small role means that there is no 'goodie vs baddie hook' to make up for the absence of either plot of jokes.

In many respects, Reckless Kelly is just a nicely shot, brainless, flag-waving exercise. You can either take its outright prejudice as pandering to the lowest common Aussie denominator, or (if you squint a lot ) as a big joke about all the hangups and prejudices that are rife there (the gripes about poms owning and buying everything are pretty funny coming from the country that gave the world Rupert Murdoch).
    Speaking as a whinging pom, pom bashing is fine, providing the jokes are funny; and Reckless Kelly's biggest crime against the cinema is that the 'good natured' snipes against other cultures are just tedious, monotonous cliches, generally failing to illicit either a smile or a frown.
Hugo Weaving, Reckless Kelly, Brolly

Hugo Weaving content:

This is possibly one of the oddest film choices in Hugo Weaving's career, not really fitting in with his other work at all: it's big budget but small point and it doesn't offer him any opportunity to develop a character. Maybe it was just a convenient pay packet for minimal work, giving him the freedom to do other things; maybe it seemed a good idea at the time.
     Sir John is the British Gordon Gecko ~ all sharp suits, slicked-back hair, arched eyebrows, and  lips curled in either derision or a satanic sliver of a smile. He's one step away from twirling a silent-movie moustache as his Evil Plan for World Domination and Revenge unfolds.
     Still, as the son of two Brits who lived as one between the ages of  9-16, Weaving at least looks good.
Hugo Weaving, Reckless Kelly, Eyebrows

Key scenes:
  • A smooth-suited gargoyle coiled into an expensive leather chair, reading his cover issue of Time magazine, surrounded by Union Flags.
  • A cute wombat crouches on Sir John's foot as he lands on Kelly Island: he kicks it away in disgust.