This flick was pretty good. It's light hearted and simple. It has a bit of fun while trying to re-arrange some of the sexual stereotypes which can be found some places in rural Australia. It kept me interested with its simplicity and kept a good consistency in its comic approach. It's the sort of movie I could watch a few times and not get completely sick of. Mainly because the characters and the presentation are quite endearing in their beauty...but that's probably a drawback for some of you. Even if you don't like the cutesie presentation of this flick it may still be worth it if you would like to watch people play around with sexual stereotypes in a rural Australian setting.
12 Reviews
Not bad
_t_25 July 1999
Warning: Spoilers
I don't think that I like the plot of this film. I normally can guess what will happen next. When Mick joins an all-female band as Michelle, the situation has to be as some films of the past used to be produced. Mick, certainly, falls in love with a band member. And finally, she figures out that Mick is a liar. That's it.
However, I sit comfortably, relax and try to enjoy the film. It's not bad because the production doesn't disturb me much.
However, I sit comfortably, relax and try to enjoy the film. It's not bad because the production doesn't disturb me much.
Cutish cute film, where beneath lies same ol same ol
videorama-759-85939124 January 2016
I don't know why, but this film didn't live up my expectations. I didn't really know the story that well, and saw the film for John Jarratt, the real star, while I liked Price, and eye candy Toni Pearen, who wasn't that bad, but really carried a subtle sexiness, I really liked. I guess I've seen enough of films, where guys, get dressed up in lingerie (flick eyes away, sickening moment, honestly) and reality check, please, you would of made this chick as a guy, right away, especially when his man tone went off, instead of a girls in some parts. Rocker, Jarratt, sells wifee's piano, and she takes off. To earn some moolah, to pay for it, to get it back, so it gets wifee back, the older son (Price) dons a wig and puts on girl wear, and joins a girl band, who have just entered town. He falls for singer, sexy Pearen, who unwares he's a guy, where what follows is cliché'd. Look, this is a good hearted film, and it's a cute film, but there are just too many films like this. It has a lot of situations, and impasses, but I've seen it before, and there are some really classic, and amusing moments, one line, spoken with venom Pearen about guy's lying, while, sitting next to Price, is gold. I guess, I was expecting a much more happening film, one more livelier, and the not badly made film, sadly walks a couple of dull steps. I didn't expect it to be set in the country, which was really part of the cliché'd, seen it all before scene. Jarrett and cute Pearen, are the only the best things about it. Soundtrack is awesome, as is Pearen's song.
We were nearly rolling on the floor with laughter!
terry-1206 December 2001
This is a "goofball comedy" reminiscent of the old slapstick comedies of early black and white film. I didn't try to make sense of the goings-on of a young man (trying to pass in an all girls' band) or his dim-witted father, but just laughed at all the ridiculous situations that resulted. This is one of my favorite movies, really! I'm just sorry that I can't find it on VHS or DVD.
One of the THE worst movies ever!
BadWebDiver18 October 2004
This is one of the most pathetic, lame-brained cr*p stories I have ever had the misfortune to see.
Just imagine a plot vaguely similar to LADYBUGS - but without Rodney Dangerfield, Jonathan Brandis or anything remotely resembling a sense of comic timing, and you pretty much get the idea where this story is heading.
The sort of film to make you scratch your head in wonder going "what the heck were they thinking here?" I didn't even crack a smile during the whole drawn-out process.
Extremely disappointing and laborious storytelling.
Just imagine a plot vaguely similar to LADYBUGS - but without Rodney Dangerfield, Jonathan Brandis or anything remotely resembling a sense of comic timing, and you pretty much get the idea where this story is heading.
The sort of film to make you scratch your head in wonder going "what the heck were they thinking here?" I didn't even crack a smile during the whole drawn-out process.
Extremely disappointing and laborious storytelling.
Very funny movie!
annie_nettie29 June 2007
I have been looking for off-beat movies and I think I found a gem in this one. We laughed through the whole movie. Was it a great, meaningful movie..no, but I don't believe it was meant to be. It was, however, an extremely funny movie. We kept wondering if these people could ever look normal when not on the set. I really loved the Elvis guy! He is portrayed just like any typical male, crying for his wife yet still trying to make it with someone else. Then you have Irene, the long-suffering wife, who still loves him after all he's done. Throw in two children and you have the makings of an everyday family here in the States. Maybe what made it funny for us was watching it for the first time in 2007.
What were they smoking????
wildbill-627 September 1999
I tried to like this movie. The characters motivations made NO sense. This was more like a bad Three's Company episode. If all good looking lesbian rock bands were all so accepting, I'd be in one. The plot was hacked together, and definitely needed a re-write. I kept asking myself, why did that person just do that? Then I started wondering why the film makers bothered making this movie at all.
Delightful, really enjoyed it.
tmov0124 October 2007
One of the best Australian comedy films ever. It's not just funny, it appeals to the heart as well;and not in a soppy way. The family setting is great as is the rural North Queensland atmosphere. Starring Toni Pearen ( Funniest Home Videos), David Price (tv stuff) and John Jarratt (Australia, Blue Heelers, Wolf Creek among others) the story has a pace to it that keeps building and changing in unexpected directions. It is a sister piece to that Australian hit Priscilla Queen of the Desert as it also involves a cross-dressing theme in rural Australia, but for my money the plot here is far more interesting and developed. It has the sleeper quality of Crackers and is far more entertaining than a lot of those pretentious Australian movies like Little Fish, Candy and Somersault. Get a look at it!
Barry & the visiting rock band = best thing in it!
clairemun1 July 2015
Warning: Spoilers
I loved Mick's dad, Barry – in fact John Jarratt, who plays him, was the main reason I wanted to see this, due to my enormous crush on his best- known character Mick Taylor. When Barry makes up a blues song about the problems he experiences I only wished it was longer and available on CD. It is fantastic.
Visiting rock band the Total Fire Band, which Mick joins under an assumed name, are quite good. I loved their black & white clothing and Courtney's silver bracelet.It's blindingly obvious Michelle has a little something extra, I'm surprised none of the TFB guessed before. Now, where to get some clothing like that??
Visiting rock band the Total Fire Band, which Mick joins under an assumed name, are quite good. I loved their black & white clothing and Courtney's silver bracelet.It's blindingly obvious Michelle has a little something extra, I'm surprised none of the TFB guessed before. Now, where to get some clothing like that??
Yeah right! and all women are angels?
uds323 October 2001
This flick proves it, Australians carry the same torch for Elvis, hot rods and hair grease (OK-gel, to be politically correct these days)and with the same kitschy flair, as their Stateside contemporaries!
A young man tries his hand (as it were) at drag and then finds love in an all-girl band. (Undeniably, the best place to look!) This being the outcome of a nefarious scheme to re-unite his Elvis-besotted father with his sensible, piano-deprived mother. Dysfunctional family drama and sexual comings-of-age intersect in lightly comedic style.
Set in a small town with surrounding farms and lakes, the film's sub- plots and characters overlap and complicate like a mid-summer jaunt in a Shakespearean tale.
Toni Pearen as lead singer Angela is appealingly cutesy and tries her hardest with at best, a tradesman's script. No-one much had anything to work with here. Better than a cold cheeseburger-on-a-sesame-seed-bun to be certain, but with a medium coke as well, I'm not so sure!
A young man tries his hand (as it were) at drag and then finds love in an all-girl band. (Undeniably, the best place to look!) This being the outcome of a nefarious scheme to re-unite his Elvis-besotted father with his sensible, piano-deprived mother. Dysfunctional family drama and sexual comings-of-age intersect in lightly comedic style.
Set in a small town with surrounding farms and lakes, the film's sub- plots and characters overlap and complicate like a mid-summer jaunt in a Shakespearean tale.
Toni Pearen as lead singer Angela is appealingly cutesy and tries her hardest with at best, a tradesman's script. No-one much had anything to work with here. Better than a cold cheeseburger-on-a-sesame-seed-bun to be certain, but with a medium coke as well, I'm not so sure!
One of the best films not available on dvd/Blu-ray or streaming services.
deanpolenz-3171613 May 2022
Funny movie with many underrated performances. Twelfth Night meets small town Australia. Not your standard formula boy meets girl teen movie. The actors chosen to play the towns folk look like could be actual locals. The actors are not the pretty faces which we see in American teen movies.
In a word, YUCK!
da cissy pimp24 August 2001
Warning: Spoilers
Warning: possible spoilers ahead
During the 1990s, the Australian film industry produced many fine films - films such as "Strictly Ballroom", "Romper Stomper", and "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" - which earnt it much well-deserved recognition overseas. Unfortunately, it also produced such crap as the execrable "comedy" "All Men Are Liars".
Basically, this movie revolves around a family in the sugar-growing region of Queensland, and the turmoil that this family finds itself in when the father, Barry, rather heartlessly sells the mother's piano. Unfortunately, soon after being taken away, the piano is accidentally destroyed by a train which is about the only remotely funny incident in the whole film. Incognizant of the piano's unfortunate destruction, one of the kids in the family - a guy called Mick - vows to earn enough money to buy the piano back, and gets a chance to do just that when some band turns up in town. Soon after arriving, the band boots out its only male member for assorted sexual shenanigans, and starts looking for a replacement among the locals. Unfortunately, due to the bad experiences the band had with the member it just got rid of, the replacement has to be a woman: something that prompts (a rather reluctant) Mick to dress up in drag and try his luck joining the band cunningly disguised as a member of the opposite sex. Thankfully his ruse (despite being terribly unconvincing to the audience) succeeds and he is in. Unfortunately, however, many predictable complications arise when the band's lead singer (played by real-life Australian popstar Toni Pearen) starts falling for him without really knowing why.
Although it may sound vaguely amusing, "All Men Are Liars' is, in reality, an unmitigated heap of crap. The dialogue is terrible and the main character is a rather pathetic individual. Not only does he not look terribly convincing as a woman (as noted above), but he also doesn't use his masquerade as a chance to have some evil fun with the women he finds himself working among. The scene in which he is finally unmasked is also pretty vomitive; as soon as she discovers that he is not a woman after all, the aforementioned lead singer slaps him twice in the face (once on each side) before kneeing him in the nads: a despicable act of violence that is, no doubt, perfectly acceptable in the film-maker's eyes given that the aggressor is a woman, the victim is a man, and all that crap.
Unless you have the hots for Toni Pearen (in which case, you are very SAD and should seek professional help at the earliest available opportunity), give this film a miss.
During the 1990s, the Australian film industry produced many fine films - films such as "Strictly Ballroom", "Romper Stomper", and "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" - which earnt it much well-deserved recognition overseas. Unfortunately, it also produced such crap as the execrable "comedy" "All Men Are Liars".
Basically, this movie revolves around a family in the sugar-growing region of Queensland, and the turmoil that this family finds itself in when the father, Barry, rather heartlessly sells the mother's piano. Unfortunately, soon after being taken away, the piano is accidentally destroyed by a train which is about the only remotely funny incident in the whole film. Incognizant of the piano's unfortunate destruction, one of the kids in the family - a guy called Mick - vows to earn enough money to buy the piano back, and gets a chance to do just that when some band turns up in town. Soon after arriving, the band boots out its only male member for assorted sexual shenanigans, and starts looking for a replacement among the locals. Unfortunately, due to the bad experiences the band had with the member it just got rid of, the replacement has to be a woman: something that prompts (a rather reluctant) Mick to dress up in drag and try his luck joining the band cunningly disguised as a member of the opposite sex. Thankfully his ruse (despite being terribly unconvincing to the audience) succeeds and he is in. Unfortunately, however, many predictable complications arise when the band's lead singer (played by real-life Australian popstar Toni Pearen) starts falling for him without really knowing why.
Although it may sound vaguely amusing, "All Men Are Liars' is, in reality, an unmitigated heap of crap. The dialogue is terrible and the main character is a rather pathetic individual. Not only does he not look terribly convincing as a woman (as noted above), but he also doesn't use his masquerade as a chance to have some evil fun with the women he finds himself working among. The scene in which he is finally unmasked is also pretty vomitive; as soon as she discovers that he is not a woman after all, the aforementioned lead singer slaps him twice in the face (once on each side) before kneeing him in the nads: a despicable act of violence that is, no doubt, perfectly acceptable in the film-maker's eyes given that the aggressor is a woman, the victim is a man, and all that crap.
Unless you have the hots for Toni Pearen (in which case, you are very SAD and should seek professional help at the earliest available opportunity), give this film a miss.
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