Any Questions for Ben?

2012

Comedy / Romance

Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 40% · 16 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 40% · 250 ratings
IMDb Rating 5.6/10 10 1822 1.8K

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Plot summary

For 27-year-old Ben, life couldn't be better. A well paid job, friends, parties, girls and nothing to tie him down. But when he is invited back to his old school to join several other ex-students including Alex and Jim in talking about their personal achievements, something goes wrong.

Director

Rob Sitch Photo
Rob Sitch

Top cast

Liliya May Photo
Liliya May as Katerina Sinova
Daniel Henshall Photo
Daniel Henshall as Nick
Rachael Taylor Photo
Rachael Taylor as Alex
Rob Sitch Photo
Rob Sitch as Principal
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
1.03 GB
1280*720
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 54 min
Seeds ...
2.11 GB
1920*1080
English 5.1
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 54 min
Seeds 1

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by filmbufferx 7 / 10

Love letter to Melbourne ...

I avoided ANY QUESTIONS FOR BEN? on its release as I simply didn't like the title and after watching a slew of uninteresting contemporary Australian comedies I decided to give the film a miss. I watched the it this evening on a streaming channel and was surprised to find I liked it as much as I did ... which may not be saying much. I wasn't aware this was a Working Dog production (the team who made The Castle and The Dish, as well as numerous highly successful and very funny television shows) and while it lacks the laugh out loud comedy of their earlier films, it contains a conventional rom-com formula that works fairly well. Title character Ben (Hosh Lawson) is in his late twenties and although a university drop-out, he has built a high-profile reputation in marketing. Admired and envied by his friends, Ben lives in the CBD with his two best mates and spends his nights and weekends socialising and hopping from one tryst to the next. After returning as a guest speaker to his alma mater, Ben meets up with old university friend Alex (Rachel Taylor) and learns she is working for the UN in Yemen. Both Ben and Alex address the current students at their old school and talk about their careers. During question time, the students have loads of questions for Alex but no one has questions for Ben - thus the film's awkward title. This causes an existential crisis for Ben who suddenly finds himself in searching for meaning. There is a hint of Woody Allen here that reminds me of Annie Hall, Another Woman and Hannah and Her Sisters (though not at all in the same league) where Manhattan protagonists stop moving long enough to suddenly recognise that their lives are meaningless. Ben becomes fixated on Alex but finds that his old habits are hard to break as his fear to commit to anything longterm gets in the way of meaningful relationships. It is difficult to try and decipher what it is the Working Dog team are trying to say with their film. While Ben's friends are not unlikeable, there is a general lack of depth to any of them except Ben who feels increasingly isolated and alone in his angst-ridden journey even as he continually tries and fails to reach out to friends and family and connect on a more intimate level. In the end, Ben makes a decision to stay with this job and his apartment after having led a a life of transient affluence throughout his twenties. This extends to his relationship with Alex and he finally gets enough gumption to put himself on the line for love. After flitting about Melbourne hot spots throughout the film, the ultimate message of the film seems to be that the solution for soullessness can be found in a highly conservative formula of work and family values ... yet after meeting Ben's parents, even this seems hollow. Is there a deeper cynical agenda at work for the Working Dog team? Maybe, although I'm thinking this is more my reading of the film as I seriously doubt they are clever enough to pull off cynicism with a lightness of touch.The constant socialising at prominent Melbourne venues and festivals captured in fast paced montage as well as the deluge of aerial shots of the CBD certainly show off just how much the city of Melbourne has to offer - and what is shown of this beautiful southern city is not even half of what there is, especially as the film rarely wonders outside the space of the CBD to explore its rich cafe culture, theatre and arts - yet the constancy and excessiveness of shots of Melbourne seem like the film has been sponsored by a tourist information group. This might be a love letter to Melbourne, yet the film ends by ultimately showing that one has to fly to Yemen to actually find love.
Reviewed by daniel_00_33 7 / 10

Good DVD

I really enjoyed this film for a lazy winters Friday night .. Of course being from Melb it's always fun to watch movies made near home, I will agree not the most amazing cinematography and the story line or way scenes were constructed didn't really flow. Some of the music tracks are not timed well.. Having said that very entertaining, made me smile and did make me want to fall in love with some good quotes about life and commitment evoking feelings of nostalgia. I guess being 28 myself can relate a lot to the story and becoming relationship focused! The dude is 30 playing a 27 yr old so it's not as far fetched as others claim..It would be great to see more Aussie films in future that go the next level, but heading in the right direction.
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