Lowdown Dirty Criminals
Image: Lowdown Dirty Criminals [Freddy (James Rolleston) & Marvin (Samuel Austin). Photo: Chris Coad
A question that came to mind soon after watching this Kiwi comedy was, why did an actress of Rebecca Gibney’s high caliber lend her name to such an idiotic film? Are film roles for mature actresses really that sparse?
The synopsis sounded promising – Freddy works long hours but is always broke so he gives up his pizza delivery job and works for a crime lord. When he and his mate Marvin fail their first assignment, they are ordered to kill their boss’ wife’s sexual partner else face the consequences!
James Rolleston (The Breaker Upperers) is a natural as docile Freddy and it was quite refreshing seeing Gibney steering away from her usual ‘goody two shoes’ roles and playing the villainess of the piece.
However, this cheesy crime caper which is overloaded with corny scenarios and dialogue can only be described as embarrassingly cringe-worthy at best and fails as a comedy only garnering the occasional giggle at the sheer stupidity.
Nauseatingly gratuitous scenes of body dismemberment performed by Gibney’s character while delivering some of the unfunniest dialogue also fuelled the film’s demise. (MMo)
★★
