Cliches abound but Damian Callinan’s story of a humble rural footy club battling xenophobia is enjoyably quaint and considerate
In underdog sports movies the stakes are usually small. Pre-pubescent pipsqueaks and/or scruffy nogoodniks from the wrong side of the tracks might, for example, face off against bullies in the grand finale and prove their naysayers wrong – including the obligatory wicked coach on the opposing team.
From a certain point of view the stakes are also small in The Merger, director Mark Grentell’s modest but entertaining adaptation of comedian, playwright and actor Damian Callinan’s stage production of the same name. The team in focus, after all, is the local footy club in the tiny township of Bodgy Creek, where the biggest cultural event of the year is presumably the meat raffle.
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