Daniel Lapaine’s adaptation of 48 Shades of Brown is a journey deep inside the lives of three Queensland students. Well, that’s his intention. The reality of this sunshine-and-heartache froth is somewhat different. 48 Shades is a coming-of-age yarn about teenage Daniel (Wilson) whose parents leave him in the care of Aunty Jacq (McLeavy). She is barely three years his senior and this unlikely coupling sets the tone for a most unlikely film. Their world, and by extension their house, is the kind in which the kids of Ramsey Street end up. It’s a world in which unrequited love, dorky landlords and planning a party are their greatest problems. Daniel and Jacq pine for the attention of impossibly beautiful Naomi (Lung) while an over-eager landlord crashes the inevitable party: the gang are ringing in a new university year and Daniel’s adulthood.

48 Shades rests on a sound premise, but suffers critical reality failure. Dawson’s Creek has a stronger connection with Australian sensibilities, and finds a more credible voice than this ever does. As new friends, burgeoning maturity and unexpected sexuality are explored through the prism of Animal House Queensland style (wine bladders on a Hills-hoist), over-enthusiastic design, false characters, trite performances and awkward dialogue conspire to pull the film apart. It comes down to this. Will Daniel and Jacq find the strength to reveal their hearts? Since Lapaine takes so long to get to the point, there’s precious time to explore such possibilities. Maybe after the party but by then, Daniel will be due back on Ramsey Street.

// COLIN FRASER