Oddball (2015)

☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Oddball (2015) – S. McDonald

Aito and I ventured out to the cinema today to see this Australian family film that tells the story of a Maremma sheepdog who gets the job of protecting Fairy Penguins from foxes on Middle Island near Warrnambool, Victoria.  (Fortunately, the animals don’t talk). I guess family films may need to be evaluated using a different set of criteria; that is, they need to be judged according to whether they satisfy the target audience.  Aito said “5 stars”! Although adults may find the story predictable, this may actually be a strength for the 5 year old audience.  But there is enough local colour for the adult audience too, with beautiful ocean vistas (including the famous Twelve Apostles) and the gentle comic stylings of Shane Jacobson (as Oddball’s owner “Swampy” Marsh).  Sarah Snook, as Swampy’s daughter, a park warden responsible for the Fairy Penguins’ survival, and Coco Jack Gillies, as her daughter, keep the story human (but one wonders why family films often deal with incomplete families – maybe so that a love interest can provide more tension? Or to reach out to kids in the same position? Some of this was lost on Aito).  Afterwards, we were able to look up the true story on the web and we talked about the penguins that we will likely see in person someday. So, we are happy to offer our thumbs up!