The Coca-Cola Kid [1985] Dusan Makavejev

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The Coca-Cola Kid (1985)


http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088931/

The Coca Cola Kid is a romantic comedy Australian film, released in 1985. It was directed by Dušan Makavejev and starred Eric Roberts and Greta Scacchi. The film is based on short stories in The Americans, Baby, and The Electrical Experience by Frank Moorhouse, who wrote the screenplay. It was entered into the 1985 Cannes Film Festival.

Eric Roberts ... Becker
Greta Scacchi ... Terri
Bill Kerr ... T. George McDowell
Chris Haywood ... Kim
Kris McQuade ... Juliana
Max Gillies ... Frank Hunter
Tony Barry ... Bushman
Paul Chubb ... Fred
David Slingsby ... Waiter
Tim Finn ... Philip
Colleen Clifford ... Mrs. Haversham
Rebecca Smart ... DMZ
Esben Storm ... Country Hotel Manager
Steve Dodd ... Mr. Joe
Ian Gilmour ... Marjorie

Becker, a hotshot American marketing executive (played by Roberts) from the Coca-Cola Company visits their Australian operations and tries to figure out why a tiny corner of Australia (the fictional town of Anderson Valley) has so far resisted all of Coke's products. He literally bumps into the very pretty secretary (played by Scacchi) who is assigned to help him.

The Coca-Cola Kid is never boring, but many of its parts never seem to fit together until the very end, and even worse or better depending on your mood, there are infinite unnecessary scenes that only contribute more unusual Aussie humour. The best example of this is a scene that consists entirely of a musical band in a studio setting creating a ΓΓé¼┼ôpurely AustralianΓΓé¼┬¥ theme song for Coke. The scene, if you can call it that, is basically a few jokes by band members, which turns into a music video of a complete song... no acting, just a camera filming the band playing an entire song like a live video and band members singing and dancing to their groove while looking directly into the camera. The closest thing I have seen to the likes of it would have to be the ΓΓé¼┼ôsong breakΓΓé¼┬¥ in P.T. AndersonΓΓé¼Γäós Magnolia, if you replaced the actors with musicians playing instruments.

At its best, The Coca-Cola Kid will make you laugh and turn you on. Charismatic characters abound and exhilaration flourishes in this enjoyably empty story-turned-romp. ItΓΓé¼Γäós not the best you will ever see, but most certainly itΓΓé¼Γäós far from the worst. The happiness these characters feel is not only contagious but also seems so real on the screen. Friends seem like real friends, and lovers donΓΓé¼Γäót seem like they are just going through the motions. It makes you wonder what went on behind-the-scenes during filming ΓΓé¼ΓÇ£ in the best possible way, of course.

The movie unwinds in an unpredictable fashion, which is Makavejev's trademark. From his early films like Innocence Unprotected through such controversial episodes as Sweet Movie and W.R.: Mysteries of the Organism to his 1983 hit Montenegro, Makavejev always has used a cheerful juxtaposition of sex, violence and politics.

The Coca-Cola Kid is light on violence and the politics are implied rather than stated (Coke represents American imperialism, I think). But the sex is accompanied by the usual Makavejev trademark, an interest in textures.

In Sweet Movie, sex took place on giant mountains of sugar. This time, Scacchi dresses in a red-and-white Santa suit, and tries to seduce Roberts in a flurry of feathers.

The movie is filled with moments of inspiration, of which the most unforgettable include an Aborigine Coke commercial; Scacchi creeping about the office and hiding in a Coke cooler, and T. George's final solution for his steam-powered soda factory.

The last half of the film, alas, does not quite deliver on the promises of the first half, perhaps because Eric Roberts' performance is so intense and mannered that he eventually seems to be sliding off into another level of existence. He never really connects with Scacchi, so we don't know how they feel about each other, and therefore we can't track the progress of their relationship.

The movie has so many other delights, though, that it's fun anyway. Maybe it wasn't exactly intended to be a love story.