Romper Stomper (1992)reviewed by Benn "Where's the Humanity?" Farrell
"Romper Stomper" is a very close look at the lifestyle of an Australian neo-nazi skinhead gang and their trail of hate crimes against their neighborhood Asian-Australians. Eventually, the film turns into a love triangle between the skinhead gang leader Hando, played by Academy Award winner Russell Crowe (A Beautiful Mind), his closest friend Davey, played by the late Daniel Pollock (Proof), and Hando's girlfriend Gabe, played by Jacqueline McKenzie (Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood). The material for the picture is divided into two main acts. The first act is a straight look into the skinhead lifestyle, opening with a violent hate crime against a young Asian couple. The following 40 minutes to an hour follows the gang during a loud and obnoxious party, more hate crimes, and finally ending with all the neighborhood Asian-Australian youths coming together to beat the crap out of all the skinheads and torch their hideout. At that point, the love triangle begins when Davey falls for Gabe, and vice versa, forcing Davey to have a different perspective on life and leave the gang. Gabe gets pissed at Hando and drops a dime on the whole gang, leaving them to get busted by the cops. She seeks out Davey and the two begin their love affair, until Hando shows up, having escaped the cops. The second half of the picture is by far the more interesting and exciting. The first half is simply sad and educational, but after see where the movie ends up, it makes much of the opening hour a little unnecessary. Writer/director Geoffrey Wright (Lover Boy, Cherry Falls) wrote solid characters in his script, but his story writing leaves much to be revised. Crowe was frightening as Hando, while Pollock was very subtle as Davey. McKenzie held her own between the two, but was not very memorable for the most part. Pollock killed himself shortly after filming, by throwing himself under a train. Why is that such a common form of suicide for the British? Anyways... If you like indie film, "Romper Stomper" is one to make sure you see, even though some scenes are tough to watch. It's tough even imagining a group of youths living in such conditions; very strong in that regards. Make sure you rent the DVD and not a VHS copy, since the DVD has some of the best corrective color and resolution film processing I've seen in a long time. It's clear as glass on DVD, even though shot on 16 mm film. Benn - Where's the Humanity?
This is a little known indie-Aussie film which helped propel Russell Crowe's career. I find it extremely intriguing, but because of the split material, it comes off as a little unfocused.