Release: 29nd of July

Length: 90 Minutes

Rating: PG (Mild themes and infrequent coarse language)

We all know them; the thrift store shopper, the garage sale lurker and the eBay bidders. For Cheryl, this is her mother. Jill Rose (Geraldine Brophy) spends her weekends speeding around in a little mini with her friend Muffy garage sale hopping, only to bring her haul back home to her junk cluttered house and husband Brian (Patrick Wilson) who simply shakes his head and returns to restoring his T-Model Ford in the Garage.

Paul Murphy’s debut Second-Hand Wedding is a light-hearted comedy about the bizarre obsession some have with collecting second hand goods. When Jill’s daughter Cheryl (Holly Shanahan) is proposed to by her boyfriend Stew (Ryan O’Kane), she fears her mother Jill will impose a wedding created from chipped china and puffy-sleeves-with-dress recycled from decades ago. This forces Cheryl to become reluctant to tell her mother about the engagement. Only when Jill ‘inevitably’ finds out, she feels her daughter is nothing but ashamed of her penny-pitching habits.

The father character of Brian brings some of the warmest moments to the film, apart from Wilson’s perfect performance the loveable character is told about the wedding from Cheryl, and pleaded by her not to tell Jill, forcing Brian into an uncomfortable situation where whatever he does he’s going to hurt someone. This created so much sympathy for the character that the audience immediately joined him, till his sub-plot eventually became more interesting than the Jill’s depressive state. Without the drama being spread thin over all the characters the elements of the film contrasted heavily at times. The audience went from slap-stick style ‘garage sale’ sign stealing to a nightmare sequence that was fit for Mallace in Wonderland (2009) to tear jerking moments, scriptwriter Linda Niccol should have had her brother Andrew take a look at the script.

Jill is a great hearted character, as the vice principle at the local school she proves her heart truly rules her purse, by paying the camp fees for a student that simply can’t afford it. This simple scene added so much depth to Jill’s character when previously she appeared as a scrooge towards money.

Jill and Brian Rose's house is the opposite of a minimalist's. Surfaces are littered with two microwaves, three deck tables and lots of chipped crockery kept “just in case”. They have a happy relationship, with husband sharing everything with his wife as he brings her cups of tea.

The minor characters aren’t particularly unique, the film is strangled by dopey male types and conniving females including the uptight teacher, husband-to-be and the mechanic crew. The antagonist teacher, Gracie (Vivien Bell), has a vengeance against Jill - you almost want her to win. The fiancé is the man everyone would want their daughter to marry and the group of mechanics are the loyal mates everyone would want to work with.

Second-Hand Wedding was independently produced and filmed on the Kapiti Coast of New Zealand. Nick Ward, the story creator, was inspired by his own family, bringing Linda Niccol onto the project, then after 30 years in production, Paul Murphy, who had crew experience on such films as Lord of the Rings and King Kong helped get this low budget film off the ground.

The truthful acting brims with passion for the feature. The actors, even the minor non-speaking ones, bring such energy to the screen. A musical cameo appearance is made by John Rowles (playing himself) adds another Kiwi element. When fishing for actors Casting Agent Tina Cleary did not catch any rubbish actors. At the New Zealand Film and TV Awards Geraldine Brophy and Holly Shanahan won Leading actress and Supporting actress in film respectively.

After viewing Second-Hand Wedding you will want to find a mechanic to shack up with, and start stealing garage sale signs – you will find out why, after watching. Don't wait to watch this film second-hand.

Credit

Pam Meagher