The Case for Helping Hands

I was not really intending to go to a film this week, but when I saw there was a local movie that got relatively good news and, most importantly, starred the fantabulous Melanie Lynsky, I had to go.

Show of Hands is based in New Plymouth, and a win a car competition. Based on a true story, the film follows contestants in a competition to win a Land Rover by keeping their hands on the car the longest. Quite where the true story is abandoned for the whimsy of fantasy is unclear, but it seems fairly early on as a whole bundle of cliched characters takes the stage. Not that this is a bad thing - the characters are all entertaining and it is great seeing Kiwi actors up on screen, and catching up on what some of the old Shortland Street alumni are up to these days.

Unfortunately, the film doesn't really know where to end, and, after establishing the lead characters quite strongly in the first part, the film seems to take the easy way out. And then it kind of just... ends.

So it's fairly easy to sum up this film. It is nice, well done, fairly Nu Zild, but ultimately a bit half baked, stumbling at the final hurdle and failing to deliver a satisfying conclusion. But Melanie Lynsky is there, and she is awesome (though the dress at the end... something else I didn't quite get), and the rest of the cast are great as well. It's just a pity the material doesn't quite live up to the performances.

Verdict: Show of Hands presented some fairly decent actors in some fairly predictable material with an unfortunately unsatisfying ending. 5 fingers out of 10.