Not Suitable for Children

Last updated

Not Suitable for Children
Notsuitableforchildrenposter.jpg
Theatrical film poster
Directed byPeter Templeman
Written byMichael Lucas
Produced by Jodi Matterson
Starring Ryan Kwanten
Sarah Snook
Ryan Corr
Cinematography Lachlan Milne
Edited byMatthew Walker
Music byJono Ma
Matteo Zingales
Production
companies
Wild Eddie
Exit Films
Frame, Set & Match
Distributed by Icon Film Distribution
Release dates
  • 6 June 2012 (2012-06-06)(Sydney)
  • 12 July 2012 (2012-07-12)
Running time
97 minutes [1]
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
Budget$4.5 million [1]
Box office$468,959 [2]

Not Suitable for Children is a 2012 Australian romantic comedy film directed by Peter Templeman and written by Michael Lucas. It was released on 12 July 2012. It stars Ryan Kwanten, Sarah Snook, and Ryan Corr.

Contents

Plot

Jonah (Ryan Kwanten) is a young man without a care in the world. At one of his parties, the power goes out because Jonah has not paid his electric bill, but it gets turned back on thanks to his neighbor. Jonah meets up with Becky (Kathryn Beck) and they retreat up to his room away from the party, only for Becky to find a lump in Jonah's testicle. Jonah goes to see a doctor, who reveals that Jonah has testicular cancer. He tells Jonah that they can remove it in time, but Jonah's upset that he won't be able to father children. The doctor suggests that Jonah uses a sperm bank in the event that he would like to have children after the operation.

Now at a sperm bank, Jonah is left in a room to privately produce his semen. After he is finished, he returns home to his best friends and fellow party hosts, Stevie (Sarah Snook) and Gus (Ryan Corr). When Stevie arrives home from work, Gus blurts out that Jonah has cancer, much to Jonah's dismay. Gus asks if he would still like to have the party scheduled for the coming Friday, and Jonah allows them to keep the date, not wanting to explain his condition to party-goers.

Jonah receives a call from the sperm bank and goes in for a meeting. The nurse explains that Jonah falls into a small percentage of men whose sperm cannot be frozen because of biological complications. Jonah asks what other options there are, now very worried that he will never have children. The nurse replies with, "Well, do you have a girlfriend?"

Jonah then begins the complicated journey of finding a woman to carry his child. He first approaches his ex-girlfriend Ava (Bojana Novakovic) who is disgusted with Jonah for even contacting her. He then tries Becky (or "Stalker Becky" as Gus calls her) who rejects him by claiming she never thought of her and Jonah as a couple. Jonah never tells the girls he asks that he has cancer. Jonah goes back to the doctor to ask for more time and moves his operation three weeks.

Meanwhile, Gus, Stevie, and Jonah realize that hosting parties could be their job. After the power went out in the earlier party and party-goers pitched in to help pay, Gus realizes that the three of them could make a weekly salary if they held a party once a week. Jonah's first "paycheck" is worth over $700.

Jonah then begins making lists of all the women he has ever dated or known and asks them if they would ever consider after his child. He is rejected by all the women he asks. Stevie suggests adoption and Jonah looks into it, but soon figures out that in order to be a candidate for adoption you must have a clean health record, and Jonah has "cancer" written all over his. After having no luck, Stevie suggests that Jonah try an "arrangement" with a woman. Stevie says she knows of a lesbian couple at her work who were looking into sperm donation and sets up a meeting for Jonah. The meeting does not go in Jonah's favour and the couple declines Jonah's offer. Stevie suggests another woman at work who wants a child, but is not married and sets up a meeting with her too. Although Jonah goes home with her, he ends up not sleeping with her. He claims that he was too drunk to have sex and couldn't focus.

Stevie starts to like the idea of an arrangement, especially after Jonah claims that he would give his house to the woman who carried his child. Stevie accidentally tips off Jonah that she would be interested in a deal and sends Jonah out of her room to think.

At the weekly party Stevie stays in her room, claiming that she has a migraine. Jonah calls her and tells her that he would give her anything if she would carry the child. The morning after the party, Jonah receives a text message from Stevie asking him to come to her room. It is revealed that the whole night Stevie stayed up and wrote a contract concerning her and Jonah's deal. Jonah reads through the contract and signs it and Stevie tells him that they have a four-day window that Stevie should be ovulating in.

They book a room at a cheap motel for the four days, with the final being two days before Jonah's operation. Stevie and Jonah go to a pharmacy and buy a syringe because Stevie does not want to have sex with Jonah. Back at the motel, Jonah accidentally breaks the syringe. Stevie says that it should be okay, they just missed the first day of a four-day window. Jonah is frustrated and Stevie gives in and says she is okay with natural. They have sex, and for the rest of the four days they meet at the hotel, have sex, and then stagger their arrival at home so Gus doesn't notice.

On the fifth day while Stevie is at work, she gets her period. She calls Jonah and asks him to meet her outside her work. They get into a fight, with Stevie claiming she was happy her period came because she was having second thoughts anyway. Jonah leaves, realizing he is out of time.

Stevie is absent at the party that night, but Gus has made a call to Ava. Ava arrives at the party, first mad at Jonah for not telling her he had cancer and then says she would carry his child if he wanted. They go upstairs to his room and have sex, but Jonah pulls out at the last moment because he realizes he is in love with Stevie. Jonah leaves to go find her, hoping she is home. Jonah asks Ava to stay in his room. Jonah finds Stevie, but Ava comes out of Jonah's room and Stevie storms off, feeling betrayed. Meanwhile, the police arrive to stop the party.

Jonah catches up to Stevie and tells her that he loves her, but Stevie leaves.

The next morning, Jonah's sister comes to pick him and Gus up for the operation. Jonah is sad at first, but Stevie does show up for moral support. Stevie tells Jonah (in front of Gus, who never suspected anything going on between them) that she thought Jonah would make a great father and he should look into sperm donation or adoption with her. They kiss and Jonah is wheeled away into the operating room. The final line of the movie is, "What the f***." Said by a very confused Gus.

Cast

Reception

Not Suitable for Children earned AUD$468,959 at the Australian box office. [2] The film received positive reviews from critics, earning an 88% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Awards and nominations

AwardCategorySubjectResult
AACTA Awards
(2nd)
Best Actress in a Leading Role Sarah Snook Nominated
Best Original Music Score Jono MaWon
Matteo Zingales Won
Best Actor in a Supporting Role Ryan Corr Nominated
Best Original Screenplay Michael LucasNominated
AWGIE Award Best Writing in a Feature Film - OriginalWon
FCCA Awards Best FilmNominated
Best DirectorPeter TemplemanNominated
Best ActressSarah SnookWon
Best Actor in a Supporting RoleRyan CorrWon
Best Music ScoreJono MaNominated
Matteo ZingalesNominated

Related Research Articles

<i>Summerland</i> (TV series) American drama television series

Summerland is an American drama television series created by Stephen Tolkin and Lori Loughlin. It is centered on a clothing designer in her 30s, Ava Gregory (Loughlin), raising her niece and nephews after their parents die in a tragic accident. They live with three of Ava's friends who also help raise the kids in the fictional city of Playa Linda, California.

Steve McDonald (<i>Coronation Street</i>) Fictional character from Coronation Street

Steve McDonald is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Simon Gregson. The character first appeared on-screen during the episode airing on 6 December 1989. He arrived as part of the McDonald family introduced by producer Mervyn Watson along with his twin brother Andy and parents Liz and Jim McDonald. For the first year on the Street, the character was credited by the actor's real surname Gregory, before changing to Gregson from early 1991 onwards. Steve is Coronation Street's most married character, having been married seven times to five women. In September 2015, Gregson announced a break due to personal reasons and Steve was off-screen from November 2015 to 22 April 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amy Barlow</span> Fictional character from Coronation Street

Amy Barlow is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, portrayed by Elle Mulvaney. She was born on screen during the episode broadcast on 9 February 2004. To date, the character has been portrayed by eight child actors; Holly Bowyer, Rebecca Pike, Louisa Morris, Rachel and Sarah Corker, Madison Hampson, Amber Chadwick and Elle Mulvaney, making her the most recast character in Coronation Street. Although Amy's surname has stayed Barlow, Chadwick was credited as Amy McDonald for three episodes from 2009 to 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vinnie Patterson</span> Soap opera character

Vincent "Vinnie" Patterson is a fictional character from the Australian soap opera Home and Away, played by Ryan Kwanten. He made his first on screen appearance on 14 July 1997 and departed on 1 March 2002. The character made a brief return appearance in the episode shown on 19 November 2004 without Kwanten reprising the role, appearing wearing a bear costume and played by an uncredited actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ryan Lavery</span> Soap opera character

Ryan Lavery is a fictional character from the American daytime drama All My Children, as portrayed by Cameron Mathison from 1998 to 2002 and from 2003 to 2011. He has a daughter with ex-wife Annie Lavery, a son with Kendall Hart, and is married to Kendall's best friend and sometimes enemy Greenlee Smythe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greenlee Smythe</span> Fictional character from All My Children

Greenlee Smythe is a fictional character from the American daytime drama, All My Children. She was originally portrayed by actress Rebecca Budig from August 11, 1999 to November 30, 2005, and was portrayed by actress Sabine Singh from April 20, 2007 to January 15, 2008. On December 14, 2007, it was announced that Budig accepted the offer to reprise the role, and would continue her portrayal of the character. Episodes with Budig began airing again January 16, 2008. The return is one of the most widely reported in the genre's history, with newspapers such as the Associated Press and New York Daily News featuring the story. Budig again departed the role on February 17, 2009, the day the character was killed off. In the June 29, 2009 issue of ABC Soaps in Depth magazine, head writer Charles Pratt, Jr. confirmed they had written Greenlee to remain alive, but that Budig would be making no immediate plans to return to the show. On October 8, 2009, it was confirmed that Budig would return to the show in December. Budig returned on December 23, 2009 and remained with the series until its finale on September 23, 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zach Slater and Kendall Hart</span> Soap opera character

Zach Slater and Kendall Hart Slater are fictional characters and a supercouple from the American daytime drama All My Children. Zach is portrayed by Thorsten Kaye, and Kendall is portrayed by Alicia Minshew. The couple is often referred to by the portmanteau "Zendall" on Internet message boards. Originally scripted by former All My Children head writer Megan McTavish, the couple was never intended to be a serious romance; notable viewer response to the pairing led All My Children writers to reconsider and script them as true loves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kitty Walker</span> Soap opera character

Katherine Anne "Kitty" Walker McCallister is a fictional character on the primetime show Brothers & Sisters. She is played by actress Calista Flockhart. In a two-part 2010 episode, actress Kay Panabaker portrayed a teenage Kitty Walker in flashback sequences set in 1986.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reese Williams and Bianca Montgomery</span> Soap opera character

Reese Williams and Bianca Montgomery are fictional characters and a lesbian couple from the ABC daytime drama All My Children. Reese was portrayed by Tamara Braun, and Bianca was portrayed by Eden Riegel. On Internet message boards, the pairing is commonly referred to by the portmanteaus "Rianca" and "Breese". The couple debuted in October 2008 and is groundbreaking for featuring the first same-sex marriage proposal, as well as the first legal same-sex wedding and marriage, on an American soap opera. In addition, the pairing's family is the first onscreen family made up of same-sex parents in the history of American daytime television.

<i>Griff the Invisible</i> 2010 Australian film

Griff the Invisible is a 2010 Australian romantic superhero comedy-drama film written and directed by Leon Ford. Its storyline centres on a socially awkward office worker bullied by his workmates during the daytime and turning himself at nighttime into a superhero who roams the streets of his neighbourhood and protects the innocent.

<i>Mini Shopaholic</i>

Mini Shopaholic (2010) is the sixth book of the Shopaholic series. It is a chick-lit novel by Sophie Kinsella, a pen-name of Madeline Wickham. It focuses on the main character Rebecca (Becky) Bloomwood, her husband Luke Brandon and their daughter Minnie.

Tom Clarke is a fictional character in the TV series Taken played by Ryan Hurst.

It Was Him or Us, a.k.a. Love and Terror, is an American made for television film which aired on CBS in 1995. It stars Richard Grieco, Ann Jillian, Monique Lanier, and Richard Masur.

<i>Louder Than Bombs</i> (film) 2015 film

Louder Than Bombs is a 2015 drama film directed by Joachim Trier and starring Jesse Eisenberg, Devin Druid, Gabriel Byrne, Isabelle Huppert, David Strathairn, and Amy Ryan. The film was internationally co-produced and was co-written by Trier and Eskil Vogt.

<i>Holding the Man</i> (film) 2015 Australian film directed by Neil Armfiel

Holding the Man is a 2015 Australian romantic drama film adapted from Timothy Conigrave's 1995 memoir of the same name. It was directed by Neil Armfield and stars Ryan Corr and Craig Stott, with supporting performances from Guy Pearce, Anthony LaPaglia, Sarah Snook, Kerry Fox and Geoffrey Rush. The screenplay was written by Tommy Murphy who also adapted the memoir for the stage play.

References

  1. 1 2 "Not Suitable for Children". IMDb .
  2. 1 2 "Not Suitable for Children Australian Box Office". HK Neo Reviews. 12 January 2013. Retrieved 23 February 2013.