Pork Pie | |
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![]() Film poster | |
Directed by | Matt Murphy |
Written by | Matt Murphy |
Based on | Goodbye Pork Pie by Geoff Murphy and Ian Mune |
Produced by | Tom Hern |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Crighton Bone |
Edited by | Jonathan Woodford-Robinson |
Production company | Four Knights Film |
Distributed by | StudioCanal |
Release dates |
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Running time | 105 minutes |
Country | New Zealand |
Language | English |
Budget | US$3,800,000[ citation needed ] |
Box office | US$797,639 (Worldwide) |
Pork Pie (also known as Joyride in certain countries) is a 2017 comedy road movie written and directed by New Zealander Matt Murphy and produced by Tom Hern. The film is a remake of the 1981 movie Goodbye Pork Pie , the first New Zealand film to win a substantial local audience. The remake stars Dean O'Gorman, James Rolleston and Ashleigh Cummings as a trio of accidental outlaws who travel the length of New Zealand in a stolen orange New Mini. The film was scored by Jonathan Crayford.
with cameo appearances from Karl Burnett, Tim Shadbolt, Eric Young, Paul Henry and Simon Dallow
The original Goodbye Pork Pie is a low budget feature film directed by Matt Murphy's father Geoff, and written by Geoff Murphy and Ian Mune. In 2014, a remake was announced, to be directed by Matt Murphy, who was part of the crew on the original 1981 version. [1] The same year, Matt Murphy directed a reenactment of the Lake Hawea chase from the first film, as an advertisement for the New Mini. [2]
Filming of Pork Pie (A.k.a. Joyride) started in March 2016. [3] Dean O'Gorman, James Rolleston and Ashleigh Cummings were set to star as Jon (John), Luke (Gerry) and Keira (Shirl) respectively. [4] [5] The film's first trailer was released on 17 October 2016. [6]
Pork Pie was released in New Zealand on Thursday, February 2, 2017, and Australia on Wednesday, April 5, 2017, where opening weekend earnings totaled US$204,839 and US$8,715 respectively. The film ultimately grossed US$788,924 in the home market and US$58,383 in Australia, for total box office of US$797,639 worldwide. [7]
Local reviews were mixed. Steve Newall of Flicks.co.nz awarded the film 3 stars out of 5, writing "Pork Pie is probably not as bad as you think it's going to be," and adding "It’s just so depressingly familiar though, driven by predictable plotting, well-worn tropes and unenthusing character arcs. And while Pork Pie whacks in a few “fucks” and tokes of weed, it's devoid of the freewheeling anarchic sensibility it is theoretically channeling." [8] Graeme Tuckett of Stuff.co.nz writes the film is "an update that lacks the original's spice." [9] And the New Zealand Herald's review awards the film 2.5 stars out of 5, and states "Any hope that the remake of Goodbye Pork Pie could recapture the ol' yellow magic of the original evaporates fairly early on," while concluding with "Higher performance car, lower performance remake." [10] Sarah Watt, also from stuff.co.nz, describes the film as “a joyous adventure [11] ”, and Dana Tetenburg from Tearaway Magazine describes the film as “an eccentric adventure with its nature based in the journey rather than the destination. I laughed for the majority of the first half, and cried through the majority of the second, which in my books is a sign of a great film [12] ”.
International reviews of the film to date have been positive. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 100% based on reviews from 10 critics. [13]
Eddie Cockrell from Variety describes it as a “sleek, kinetic and eye-catching retooling of the 1981 film”, with a story “cleverly updated by writer-director Matt Murphy”, and “crucially, the casual misogyny of the 1981 release has been replaced by an unforced social conscience [14] ”.
Sydney Morning Herald's Paul Byrnes described the film as “more fun than a barrel of monkeys [15] ”; and Alison Lesley from Access Reel writes, "The film is so enjoyable in its absurdity that it’s near impossible to fault”. She reviewed the film 9/10 and writes “this is a film that refused to be pinned down by a single genre, and is simultaneously moving, hilarious, and gripping as it ups the stakes constantly, to an epic and explosive end [16] ”.
The film was well received at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival and is expected to be distributed internationally. [17]
Utu is a 1983 New Zealand film directed and co-written by Geoff Murphy; starring Anzac Wallace as Te Wheke, a warrior who sets out to get vengeance after British forces kill his people, Bruno Lawrence and Kelly Johnson. Sometimes described as "a Maori Western", Utu was reputed to have one of the largest budgets for a New Zealand film up until that time.
Geoffrey Peter Murphy was a New Zealand filmmaker, producer, director, and screenwriter best known for his work during the renaissance of New Zealand cinema that began in the second half of the 1970s. His second feature Goodbye Pork Pie (1981) was the first New Zealand film to win major commercial success on its own soil. Murphy directed several Hollywood features during the 1990s, before returning to New Zealand as second-unit director on The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. Murphy was also at different times a scriptwriter, special effects technician, schoolteacher and trumpet player. He was married to Merata Mita, also a film director, actor, writer.
Goodbye Pork Pie is a 1981 New Zealand comedy film directed by Geoff Murphy, co-produced by Murphy and Nigel Hutchinson, and written by Geoff Murphy and Ian Mune. The film was New Zealand's first large-scale local hit. One book described it as Easy Rider meets the Keystone Cops.
Bruno Lawrence was an English-New Zealand musician and actor.
Warren Lee Tamahori is a New Zealand filmmaker best known for directing the 1994 film Once Were Warriors, the 2001 film Along Came a Spider, and 2002's James Bond film Die Another Day.
John James Campbell is a New Zealand journalist and radio and television personality. He is currently a presenter and reporter at TVNZ; before that, he presented Checkpoint, Radio New Zealand's drive time show, from 2016 to 2018. For ten years prior to that, he presented Campbell Live, a 7 p.m. current affairs programme on TV3. He was a rugby commentator for Sky Sports during the All Blacks' test against Samoa in early 2015 — a fixture he had vocally campaigned for while hosting Campbell Live.
Smash Palace is a New Zealand feature film that premiered at Cannes in May 1981 and was released theatrically in April 1982. The film chronicles a former race car driver who inadvertently contributes to the end of his marriage, then kidnaps his daughter. Lawrence's character runs a carwrecking yard in an isolated area of New Zealand's North Island.
Thomas Hern is a New Zealand actor and independent film producer. He is known for producing NZ feature films The Dark Horse, Everything We Loved, and Pork Pie. Hern also produced the action-comedy Guns Akimbo, starring Daniel Radcliffe and Samara Weaving and TIFF Midnight Madness award-winner Shadow in the Cloud.
Claire Oberman is a Dutch-born New Zealand actress, known for her role as Australian nurse Kate Norris in the television drama Tenko.
Armageddon Expo is a New Zealand owned and operated pop culture convention that holds multiple events around New Zealand in cities including Auckland, Wellington, Tauranga and Christchurch. The event, run by Beyond Reality Media Premier Event Management, has been running continuously since 1995. It has evolved from its roots of comics and trading cards to showcase computer and video gaming, animation, film and television, cosplay, comics, live wrestling, and retailers selling pop-culture merchandise.
Michael J. Horton is a film editor who works primarily in New Zealand. He was nominated for an Academy Award for the 2002 film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers that was directed by Peter Jackson.
A pork pie is a type of meat pie.
Dean Lance O'Gorman is a New Zealand actor, artist, and photographer. He played the dwarf Fíli in the Hobbit trilogy and the Norse God Bragi/Anders Johnson in the fantasy series The Almighty Johnsons. He also portrayed Kirk Douglas in Trumbo (2015).
Ashleigh Cummings is an Australian actress. She became known for her role as Robyn Mathers in Tomorrow, When the War Began. The film, based on the book of the same name, earned Cummings a nomination for Best Young Actor at the 2010 Australian Film Institute Awards. Cummings is also known for her roles as Dorothy Williams in ABC1's Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, as Debbie Vickers in Puberty Blues, and Vic McQueen in NOS4A2.
James Rolleston is a New Zealand actor known for the films Boy and The Dark Horse. The latter was released in October 2014 and had its world premiere at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival on 4 September.
The Dark Horse is a 2014 New Zealand drama film written and directed by James Napier Robertson and starring Cliff Curtis and James Rolleston. It won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Score at the 2014 New Zealand Film Awards, Best Film at the 2015 Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), 2015 San Francisco International Film Festival (SFIFF) and 2015 Rotterdam International Film Festival (IFFR), was New York Times Critics' Pick and Time Magazine Critics' Pick, and was labeled by leading New Zealand critics as "One of the greatest New Zealand films ever made". It premiered at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), and was created by production company Four Knights Film. The film was released theatrically in the U.S. by Broad Green Pictures on 1 April 2016.
Transport World is an Invercargill, New Zealand organisation that invests in tourism in Southland. So far they have four products: Bill Richardson Transport World, Classic Motorcycle Mecca, The Lodges At Transport World and Dig This Invercargill and have a restaurant and cafe on both Bill Richardson Transport World and Classic Motorcycle Mecca sites. The Grille Cafe is located at Bill Richardson Transport World at 491 Tay Street. Meccaspresso Cafe is located at Classic Motorcycle Mecca at 25 Tay Street. Bill Richardson Transport World and Classic Motorcycle Mecca are transport displays, The Lodges At Transport World are boutique apartment accommodation and Dig This Invercargill is an attraction that allows anyone to operate diggers and heavy construction equipment in a safe and controlled environment.
Robert William Nigel Hutchinson was an English-born New Zealand film producer and commercial director best known for co-producing the 1981 film, Goodbye Pork Pie, with Geoff Murphy. Hutchinson also made a small cameo in the classic New Zealand film as a dairy farmer. He produced other films and television commercials, most recently Home by Christmas in 2010.
John Charles is an New Zealand film composer, conductor, and orchestrator. He created a number of musical works for the New Zealand cinema of the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s, including compositions for films such as Goodbye Pork Pie, Utu, The Quiet Earth, A Soldier's Tale or Spooked.