Oddball
(2015)Every underdog has his day.
Family film about a dog - Oddball - tasked with protecting the penguin population of Western Australia's Middle Island from fox attacks. Based on a true story.... More
To save his daughter's job and keep her from moving away, an eccentric chicken farmer (Shane Jacobson) teams up with his granddaughter to implement his controversial idea — to protect an endangered penguin colony using a troublemaking dog.Hide
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Directed by Stuart McDonald ('Stranded')
Starring Alan Tudyk, Sarah Snook, Deborah Mailman, Coco Jack Gillies, Shane Jacobson, Terry Camilleri, Richard Davies
Written by Peter Ivan
On Demand, DVD & Blu-Ray
Available from 5 providers
Flicks Review
BY Adam Fresco Flicks Writer
Think Free Willy – only with a dog, a cute kid, an eccentric grandpa, and fairy penguins in place of a whale. It’s good, clean, old-fashioned family fun. No spaceships, superheroes, heavy-handed CGI or cars that turn into robots. Just lots of heart and little blue penguins. It’s a tall tale based on the true story of eccentric Australian chicken farmer, Allan ‘Swampy’ Marsh, and his smarter-than-her-years granddaughter, Olivia, (a delightful double-act by Shane Jacobson and Coco Jack Gillies). Together they hatch a plan to save the dwindling penguin population of a tiny sanctuary from fox attacks, by training up Oddball – a big hearted, but big trouble, Maremma sheepdog.... More
The supporting non-canine cast are great, from Sarah Snook as Swampy’s daughter Emily, to Frank Woodley as a creepy dog-catcher. The only misstep in an otherwise light, frothy, family-friendly farce, is Alan Tudyk’s role, a token American doubling as Emily’s boyfriend and the clumsy representative of the US tourism-as-business model. It’s a subplot that rests uneasily within a film which exists in a conservative’s idyllic dream of family, friendship, oneness with nature and, um, dogs babysitting penguins.
Whilst the old git movie critic in me cringed (especially at the oh-so obvious leaps from real Aussie locations to sets), the big kid in me ate it up as readily as Babe. Sure, it’s not perfect. It’s politically naïve, sappy, sentimental and often silly - but then so were Beethoven and Lassie, movie series to which director Stuart McDonald clearly tips his hat.Cynical sneers aside, Oddball delivers a true shaggy dog story that, along with the recent Paper Planes, proves quality, old-school family filmmaking is alive, waddling and barking, in Oz.Hide
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Oddball
The Press Reviews
70%
of critics recommend.
Rotten Tomatoes Score. More reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Stuart McDonald injects humour and heart into the tale, while Peter Ivan's script is contained and concise. Full Review
Unfortunately, they appear to have lost sight of the golden rule for family movies of this type, which is to keep the focus squarely on the animals or, failing that, on the kids. Full Review
Oddball's brand of fun-with-heart will hopefully click with local kids and their parents too. Full Review
It's hard not to enjoy this amiable heartwarmer. Full Review
Some kinks in the writing notwithstanding, Oddball is fun and thoughtfully minded, with a sweet charm that endears from the get-go. Full Review
The success of the film as a completely accessible little crowd-pleaser owes much to the efforts of Shane Jacobson. Full Review
Well made, efficiently written and its heart is in exactly the right place. Full Review
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