Danny Deckchair

Danny Deckchair
Directed by	Jeff Balsmeyer
Produced by	Andrew Mason
Written by	Jeff Balsmeyer
Starring	Rhys Ifans Miranda Otto
Music by	David Donaldson Steve Roche Janet Roddick
Distributed by	Lions Gate Entertainment
Release date(s)	16 May 2003 (2003-05-16) (Cannes) 11 August 2004 (2004-08-11) (US)
Running time	100 minutes
Country	Australia
Language	English

Danny Deckchair is a 2003 Australian comedy film written and directed by Jeff Balsmeyer. The majority of Danny Deckchair was shot in Bellingen, a Mid North Coast town in New South Wales.

It was inspired by the story of "Lawnchair Larry" (Larry Walters), as well as being somewhat inspired by the last film of Peter Sellers, Being There, where a simple-minded man charms people by happenstance.

Plot

Danny Morgan (Ifans) works as a cement maker driver and construction worker who lives with his girlfriend Trudy (Clarke) in a big city but is unhappy with his life. Danny yearns for the simple life while Trudy fantasizes about bright lights and fast times. While Danny plans for their annual camping trip, Trudy tells him she has to work, so the trip is off. In reality, Trudy is using her work connections at a local real estate agency to set up a meeting with a handsome local sports reporter, Sandy Upman (Muldoon). Danny sees them together while he's shopping for a weekend barbecue, leaving him even more disenchanted with their relationship.

During the barbecue in his backyard, Danny, being an inventive character, ties a bunch of helium-filled balloons to his deckchair as his friends hold onto the chair. When they inadvertently let go, Danny is set on an airborne adventure across Australia, which causes him to become a national sensation. As he floats over idyllically beautiful rural landscapes, totally foreign to the concrete structures of his discontent, he appears on the verge of some enlightenment. After he's beaten up in a rugged ride through a thunderstorm, fireworks from a small town's macademia festival burst his balloons. Danny lands in a tree in Glenda's front yard as the remnants of his chair float away.

Glenda (Otto), who was watching the fireworks from her front porch, sees Danny fall into the tree but doesn't see the deckchair. As firemen and townsfolk arrive to find out if the fireball caused any damage, they see Glenda helping a disheveled Danny. Glenda tells them that Danny is an old professor from college days and takes him into her house, which belonged to her parents. As he recovers from the harrowing end to his journey, Glenda, lonely and fascinated by the strapping Danny, doesn't press him about his past. Danny doesn't help matters by offering only vague explanations about his unorthodox arrival in the town of Clarence.

As Danny explores the town, Glenda's friends wonder about their past relationship. But Danny's whimsical manner wins them over, which is easy to do as Glenda's friends are just happy to see that the withdrawn, and sometimes despised, traffic officer is with someone special. Using his easy-going manner, Danny persuades Glenda to dress-up and go with him to the harvest ball. She gives him some nice clothes to wear to the ball that were her father's. As Danny looks in the mirror, he shaves his beard and trims his hair. At the ball and around town, Danny's mysterious past, detached demeanour and off-the-wall ideas make him an instant hit with the townsfolk. His ideas that were considered hair-brained in the big city seem fresh in the small town of Clarence and he is hired to become the manager in an aspiring politician's campaign. As they spend time together at Glenda's house, Danny finds a motorcycle, which, for sentimental reasons, Glenda keeps in the shed. After she shows Danny pictures of her parents on the motorcycle exploring the country, Danny fixes up the old motorcycle when Glenda is at work.

All the while, the big city media can't get enough coverage of Danny's disappearance, constantly broadcasting interviews of his friends, family and co-workers. Trudy takes up with the sports reporter (Muldoon), who sees covering Danny's story and Trudy's suffering as a way to the top.

Back in Clarence, Danny is forging a deep connection with Glenda. But their budding relationship is not viewed by everyone in town as all peaches-and-cream. Their flirtations arouse jealousy and suspicion in Glenda's male co-worker, the town's police supervisor, who busts them for speeding when they take Glenda's motorcycle out for a ride. But nothing fazes Danny as he continues to immerse himself in his ideal world. He even goes so far as to give a stirring speech at a political rally and he is asked by some of the townsfolk to run for office.

All caught up in the dizzying events surrounding the political rally, Glenda and Danny spend the night together. He awakes reveling in his soul mate, gets dressed in a haze of happiness and steps outside to greet the dawn of his perfect new life . However, local kids have found the deck chair and Danny's past comes crashing down upon him in a torrent of media frenzy. As Danny runs down the street with a shocked Glenda standing on the porch, Trudy drops down in a helicopter right in front of Glenda's house to reclaim Danny and take him back to the big city, where she can bask in his new-found fame.

When his half-truths come to light, Glenda rails against Danny as he's whisked away. But, there's an underlying hurt. Although Glenda is angry that she was deceived by Danny, his departure brings her to the stark realization that she had been deceiving herself, as well. She finally admits to herself that her life is in a dead end and she decides it's time for a change.

Meanwhile, not only has Danny changed Glenda, but he knows a deep change has happened within himself. Unhappily plugged back into his old city life and with Trudy trying to capitalize on his fame, Danny uses the connections his media storm has forged to parachute into Glenda's town to win her back. He successfully lands in front of her house just in time to see Glenda packing up her motorcycle. At first, Glenda appears excited to see Danny but immediately she starts yelling that he can't just drop in and everything will be all right. Dragging his parachute, Danny tells her that he'll do whatever it takes to get back together. But Glenda pulls away on her motorcycle before Danny gets a chance to convince her how much he needs her and his new life in the town of Clarence. As she drives away, Danny's parachute cord gets accidentally caught on the back of her motorcycle and, before he knows it, he is being lifted into the air. As Glenda glances into her mirror for one last look at her old life, she notices that Danny is flying behind her and she dumps the bike. When he lands on her, they get entangled in the parachute, wordlessly embrace and kiss. The movie ends with Danny and Glenda in their bathrobes, symbolically floating in deck chairs as they talk about their future plans.

Cast

• Rhys Ifans ... as Danny Morgan
• Miranda Otto ... as Glenda Lake
• Justine Clarke ... as Trudy Dunphy
• Rhys Muldoon ... as Sandy Upman

Awards nominations

• Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards - 2003 Best Supporting Actor (Justine Clarke)
• Paris Film Festival - Grand Prix 2004 (Jeff Balsmeyer)

Box Office

Danny Deckchair grossed $1,050,383 at the box office in Australia.^[1]

See also

• Cinema of Australia
• Cluster ballooning
• Doc Hollywood

References

1. ^ Film Victoria - Australian Films at the Australian Box Office

External links

• Official Website
• Danny Deckchair at the Internet Movie Database