The Rage in Placid Lake

This overly self-conscious, merely occasionally funny, satirical comedy from debut writer-director Tony McNamara sees ‘Brewster McCloud’ figure Placid (Ben Lee) experiment with flying to escape the torment of middle-class school conformists. Undergoing possible identity change as he breaks every bone in his body, he finally embraces their code by joining the hi-tech, soul-demanding company, Icarus Insurance. The director encourages Miranda Richardson and Garry McDonald, as Placid’s ineffectual, self-absorbed, ’60s generation ‘failing parents’, and Rose Byrne as his ‘virgin’ scientist girlfriend, to camp up their characters almost to the point of caricature, placing too much stress on his own inconsistently original script. Despite some engaging set pieces and seductively madcap antics, it’s a disappointment.