Australian comedies have often presented the rough, ready and raw side of life in the Australian suburbs and Fat Pizza vs. Housos, the latest in the Fat Pizza/Housos franchise, is no exception.

The director, Paul Fenech, has successfully brought this ‘bogan’ side of Australian culture to the screen once again. No surprise, really, given that he knows what his audience wants after the success of his two previous outings Fat Pizza and Housos vs. Authority and his various SBS TV series. This time around we get a double dose of profanity and ‘lowism’ when Bobo from Fat Pizza sets up shop in the notorious Housos suburb of Sunnyvale. And much of it is a hoot!

We re-enter Fenech’s crazy world to find that Bobo Gigliotti (John Boxer) has just been released from gaol, having been there for assaulting a health inspector with a chainsaw 15 years ago. He’s obliged to get back into the workforce and, with the aggressive help of his Mama (Maria Venuti - Big Mama’s Boy), he finds premises in Sunnyvale, an outer suburban neighbourhood that comes with its own set of problems – fans of Fenech’s oeuvre will remember it from Housos vs. Authority. Bobo’s choice is limited because rent has risen considerably since he last had to pay it! Mama is determined to make this venture work so she seeks the assistance of a ‘relo’, Renzo (Renzo Bellato - Fat Pizza), who works at Centrelink. She bribes him (with pizza, of course) into finding staff to work under a Work for the Dole scheme and for Centrelink recipients to receive food vouchers that are only redeemable at Bobo’s pizza joint.

Fenech plays two characters, the mad bad Franky and his not-too-bright ‘cuz’ Pauly, distinguished by Franky wearing a Mitchell Johnson mo’ while his cuz is clean shaven. Pauly gets a job at the restaurant and is joined by other old staff members Sleek the Elite (Paul Nakad) and Habib (Tahir Bilgic), who is using the pizzeria to shift his supply of drugs. The battle begins when Habib’s new super-gang, the multi-ethnic Sunnyvale International Brotherhood gets into a turf war with the local bikies, The Hunters, plus a bunch of brilliantly executed assorted junkies and housos, and things begin to spiral out of control, tempting Bobo to reach for his old weapon of choice, the chainsaw.

There are numerous wonderfully portrayed low-life characters here who are fleshed out by some startling cameos, including Angry Anderson who reprises the role of ‘Angry’ from Housos vs Authority and Kyle Sandilands who, in a case of art imitating life, plays a character referred to only as Fat Twat! Mention should also be made of Elle Dawe (Housos vs. Authority), who plays the whining battler Shazza Jones. Tech credits are ably done but Fenech’s script falls down in places and many of his gags are a bit lame. In particular his routines involving Franky and a harem of naked women are over-used. Still, he has a keen eye when it comes to skewering some of Australia’s unique sub-cultures.

It makes you wonder what the rest of the world would think of the Land of Oz if this was their only impression because, actually, this is not that far removed from reality! If you are up for some real laughs and are prepared to enter a world that is utterly cringe-making, then Fat Pizza vs. Housos is a thong-wearing, flannelette shirt-covered ripper! Go for a pizza afterwards!

// SALT

Previewed at Paramount Theatre, Sydney on November 5, 2014