Netherlands born director Rolf de Heer had been working as a director for nine years before he got behind the camera and made this little known bizzaro-flick entitled "Bad Boy Bubby" though to say I know of his previous works would be a lie, so I won't go there.
An Australian film, "Bad Boy Bubby" tells the story of Bubby, a boy, or man if you prefer as seen as he is thirty, kept locked inside a dirty flat by his mother who has convinced him that the air outside it poisonous. Certain circumstances force Bubby out into the world and he discovers things for the first time. He is an unusual cat, so the world reacts to him as such and in turn he sees the world as just as unusual.
It's a weird film, but engaging and thought provoking at the same time. It has its moments of disturbing the viewer and it has its moments of warming the viewers heart a little too. Nick Hope plays Bubby perfectly, an English actor from Manchester, he has worked on so many things yet any time I see him I remember him as "Bubby". This performance carries the film which at times borders on being so low budget you wonder if any of the other actors had ever worked in film or television prior to it. There are some bad things about it, with some shock moments seemingly only there for the value of making the viewer uncomfortable rather than progressing the story and the performances of some of the fringe characters are bordering on unwatchable. That shows how strong the lead performance and direction of this movie is, that a viewer can look past the bad things and still thoroughly enjoy the end product.
Bizarre, raw, gritty and sometimes utterly disgusting, "Bad Boy Bubby" is a little gem from the land of Aus that doesn't really get a mention. If you happen across it at some point, give it a try, it's worth a watch for sure.
Seven and a half cockroaches out of ten.
