Kenny (2006 film)

Infobox_Film
name = Kenny

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|300px
director = Clayton Jacobson
starring = Shane Jacobson
Eve von Bibra
Ronald Jacobson
Ian Dryden
Chris David
Jesse Jacobson
released = 17 August 2006
runtime = 104 minutes
language = English
imdb_id = 0822389
amg_id =
cinematography=
music =
writer =Clayton Jacobson
Shane Jacobson
producer =Clayton Jacobson
Rohan Timlock|

"Kenny" is a 2006 Australian mockumentary film starring Shane Jacobson as Kenny, a Melbourne plumber who works for plumbing company Splashdown.

Director Clayton Jacobson describes the character of Kenny as "the Dalai-Lama of Waste Management, eternally optimistic and always ready to put others before himself. Kenny represents the humbling nature of common decency." The film was shot entirely on location in the western suburbs of Melbourne, Sydney and Nashville, Tennessee in the United States of America.

The film was released in the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom on 28 September 2007.

ynopsis

Kenny is a divorced, thirty-something portaloo toilet installer. He identifies himself as a plumber, while his father openly refers to him as a 'glorified turd-burglar', and his bourgeois brother finds it embarrassing to be in his company. His wife has left him and taken their son. His mother (with whom he was very close) passed away several years earlier.

Kenny is good at his job and refuses to change careers to placate others. His life, at first glance, seems fairly routine - he’s a meat-and-three-veg kind of guy who enjoys a beer and the odd fart joke.

Then summer arrives and 'every bastard starts having a festival'. Kenny's life is thrown into chaos. With real Melbourne events such as The Melbourne Cup, Calder Park Street Drag Racing, Australian International Airshow and the St Kilda Festival as a backdrop, Kenny demonstrates his star qualities.

In the middle of summer, when Kenny thinks he is on top of his annual chaos, his boss asks him to attend a trade expo in Nashville, USA. Kenny steps out of his overalls for the first time and nervously boards an international flight. His discomfort is evident, but by both breaking and fixing one of the plane's toilets, he strikes up a friendship with an air hostess.

Kenny fumbles his way through the trade expo and unfamiliar corporate world. He inadvertently schmoozes a deal to sell his company's 'corporate bathroom' to a Japanese firm, after having befriended a Japanese executive whom he calls 'The Sushi Cowboy'.

Upon his return to Australia, Kenny is faced with both career and family dilemmas. His 70 year old father is in hospital and needs an operation. His boss offers him a managerial position which would involve trading his overalls for a suit. Even though this would please his father, ex-wife and boss, Kenny decides that his current role makes him who he is, and therefore decides to stick to the camaraderie of his mates and concentrate on his personal life. The close of the film has Kenny waiting at an airport hoping to see the air hostess he had to leave in the USA and happily seeing her. Also in the end Kenny parks his truck (which has waste in it) then a man parks in front making it impossible for Kenny to leave. Kenny asks the man if he can move. The man replies by saying he will just be a minute. Kenny goes back to his car and waits then rings the hospital about the operation. After that he walks into the store where the man is and asks him if is ready. The man is there on a PC with a girl. He tells Kenny to let it go. Kenny goes back and says his absolutely right and lets it go. He lets go of the hose attached to his truck and fills the car's interior with waste. The man walks out looking bewildered at what has happened. Kenny says "letting it go mate!".

Themes

"Kenny" is notable for several themes of strong contrast. These contrasts provide a serious background to the movies' gags. Examples include Kenny's father's ungrateful attitude for his visit, then Kenny's immediate return to Australia when his father enters hospital. Kenny is forced to take his son to work and is criticised by some women who are later seen urinating in the public car park. In spite of his own insecurities, his honest and genuine nature allow him to land a lucrative, borderline ridiculous, sale for his company with a Japanese buyer. Regardless of his ex-wife's abuse, Kenny is shown to be charming and courteous when courting.

All of which go to show that strength of character transcends career and pay tribute to Kenny as a symbol of the virtues of blue collar work.

Reception

In Australia, there has been high acclaim for the film which continues to receive excellent reviews with an average of four to four-and-a-half stars.Fact|date=September 2008

Awards

* Australian Film Institute (AFI) 2006: Nominated: Best Film (Clayton Jacobson, Rohan Timlock), Best Direction (Clayton Jacobson), Best Original Screenplay (Shane Jacobson, Clayton Jacobson), Best Editing (Clayton Jacobson, Sean Lander), Best Supporting Actor (Ronald Jacobson)
** Won: Best Lead Actor (Shane Jacobson)
* Film Critics Circle of Australia 2006: Won: Best Actor (Shane Jacobson), Best Original Screenplay; Nominated: Best Film, Best Director
* if Awards 2006: Won: Best Feature Film, Best Script (Clayton Jacobson, Shane Jacobson), Best Sound (Craig Carter, Peter Smith), Box Office Achievement; Nominated: Best Director (Clayton Jacobsen), Best Editing (Clayton Jacobson, Sean Lander)
* Funniest Fiction Feature (2008): Traverse City Film Festival

pin-off

A television mockumentary series developed with Network Ten, "Kenny's World", is currently airing as part of Ten's second-half lineup of 2008. The series takes Kenny and his Splashdown loo crew on a toilet tour of the globe. [ [http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/story/0,23663,21808739-10388,00.html Kenny flush as TV deal sealed] The Daily Telegraph "(Sydney Confidential)" 29 May 2007] .

References

External links

* [http://www.kennythemovie.com Official Website]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0822389/ Kenny on IMDB]
* [http://hoyts.ninemsn.com.au/movie/1827.asp Hoyts Cinemas film review]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HC9-pv0nzQ YouTube - Kenny: The Movie Trailer]
* [http://colsearch.nfsa.afc.gov.au/nfsa/search/display/display.w3p;adv=yes;group=;groupequals=;holdingType=;page=0;parentid=;query=Number%3A734866;querytype=;rec=0;resCount=10 Kenny at the National Film and Sound Archive]