Blake is a boorish bogan who mourns the loss of his best mate Jim to a dwarf. What might seem, at first, like an appealingly twisted bromance by way of David Lynch, or at least an amusing variant on Death At A Funeral is far from either. Written by local funny guy Peter Helliar (who curiously gives himself the most unappealing of all roles), is destined for that largely unfunny and embarrassingly full box marked Australian Comedy. You know the routine – a thin film that sticks close to formula with a a few laughs lodged between vast, familiar plains interrupted by occasional, deeply uncomfortable spikes.
TV director Daina Reid brings little energy to the story of Jim (Brendan Cowell), a 30-something miniature train driver. Having lost the heart of his girlfriend Alice (Yvonne Strahovski) because of an inability to muster up the words 'I love you', he calls upon the letter-writing skills of a recently widowed dwarf (Peter Dinklage) to express his feelings. It opens a friendship that undoes Blake, now angry and rudderless without his mate, whose stunted behaviour might find favour on a bed of redemption. Here it is largely unacceptable and in no way charming.
I Love You Too quickly becomes a by the numbers effort heavily reliant on performance to bring life to a bloated, struggling script. But with Helliar mostly irritating, Cowell mostly uncomfortable and Strahovski mostly window dressing, it leaves Dinklage to carry the film and, thankfully, he does. With an appealing mixture of world-weary irony and genuine romantic charm, his management of Jim is endearing, and an encounter with the embodiment of unobtainable genuinely touching. It's clear to see where Helliar was heading – his ambition is clear and lofty - such a shame that I Love You Too is so much less than the sum of its parts.
// COLIN FRASER
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