Kenny [2007] [DVD]

Shamelessly overlooked when it was released in 2007, "Kenny" is a wonderful mock documentary, about the trials and tribulations of Australian plumber Kenny Smythe. Wonderfully played by Shane Jacobsen, Kenny is a funny, hard-working, caring, and generous individual, who has a positive outlook on life, despite getting very little gratitude, from the public, that he serves. His choice of employment is also a source of embarrassment to members of his family. According to his father "Your nothing but a glorified turd burglar". But ultimately, Kenny is the story of a man who is doing an important job in society, even if he is the only one who recognizes this. Despite the fact that toilets remain central to the film's plot, Kenny never descends into total crudeness. Just about every character in the film is either likeable or totally believable. Make a point of watching Kenny, and you won't regret it. Kenny [2007] [DVD ]

This is the funniest film I've seen since The Rutles ... and that was a long time ago. The acting will make you stop and think 'Is this a documentary?'. In parts like 'The Office' but without the claustrophobic atmosphere and oaf-like central character, it oozes warm-hearted empathy for Kenny (Shane Jacobson), the lovable sanitation engineer, and the clever script deftly handles the line between pathos and slapstick and, of course, toilet humour. Not to say you couldn't watch this with your Gran. I (and my Gran) will be looking out for more of Shane and Clayton Jacobson in the future.

This film is an absolute tonic! Funny and heartwarming, and very uplifting, highly recommended!

Fun movie, very unusual, but in other ways typical Aussie humour.

Bought this for my wife as she loves this mockumentary film, Shane Jacobsen is an Australian comedian who has made this simple film with some members of his own family. Kenny is a working class man who shows the life of an Aussie ''Battler'' just trying to get through his work and home life with as few issues as he can. But as always even though he might see things in a clear and straight forward way it's the challenges he faces with others around him that makes life a bit more awkward. Well worth having a look at for its tongue in cheek humour.

Kenny's ex-wife thinks he's going to hell; in his darker moments he suspects he may already be there. But whatever life throws at him, this decent Australian everyman keeps his chin up and his humour intact and carries on calmly with his unmentionable trade. 100 minutes in Kenny's company is time well spent. Who knew a movie about portable loos could be so entertaining? An odd, funny and weirdly uplifting film.

Some of the comedy films I watch only seem to hold that 'comedy' impact for the first viewing only and then they fall into the usual bin of one trick ponies. However, I seem to laugh for longer and louder each time I watch Kenny and this to me shows the quality of the acting and comedy throughout the film. Even though Kenny's business and life revolves around the 'toilet' trade there is absolutely no shock or crassness built into the film, which some may have seen as an all too easy to make a buck or two (Bruno anyone?). Pure comedy.

The 'mockumentary' is a difficult style of film to get right and although it can work superbly when handled right,('Spinal tap' & 'best in show'), too often it all goes wrong & simply isn't funny. Here the starting point has promise,the Kenny of the title is a portable toilet plumber. He is engrossed in his job and is only too happy to bore anybody who comes too close with the gory details. He is up against it with his bitchy ex.wife, his bullying & humorless father,( a superb & accurate turn from Ronald Jacobson) and the general public who make life difficult. For the first 35-40 minutes Kenny is hilarious as he lets rip on his life & bombards the viewer with his Aussie sayings,("he's dafter than a bum full of smarties"), and the whole thing has a real documentary feel. Shane Jacobson really delivers the lines convincingly and quickly makes his character both believable & sympathetic. For some reason the decision to leave the documentary style and try & follow a story line kicks in around halfway through. This slowly undermines the good work that went before. Don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with the story line,(Kenny goes off to a toilet plumbers convention in Nashville, meets an airline hostess & his dad's health deteriorates), it's just that for the most part the humour begins to fade and confusion sets in as the film struggles to make up it's mind what it wants to be. I liked both halves of this film and throughout Shane Jacobson is excellent but the films inability to make its mind up sort of leaves the viewer nowhere & this includes a very inconclusive ending which would be fine with the documentary style but where we are meant to invest in the 2nd halfs storyline & believe in the characters you feel shortchanged. However despite it's problems there is much to enjoy & when the laughs come they are great. Also there is not one lousy performance here, especially Kenny's old man who is just so on the money as an unreasonable,demanding,selfish & blinkered father. The picture is good and perhaps most surprisingly for this sort of film the sound is cracking. There is a scene at an airshow & another at a race track where the DTS surround really barks into life & the speech through the centre channel is clear throughout. The extra's really show in which direction the film should have gone with a featurette 'in character' & a commentary with Shane Jacobson as Kenny. This may be flawed but there is a lot to enjoy & all involved give 100%.

Kenny has to be the funniest movie I've seen of its kind. My best friend from Australia sent me this movie for my birthday years ago. I liked it so much I bought it again on DVD in the USA. This movie was just hilarious. Kenny says some of the funniest things and really takes pride in his work. The entire movie was hilarious and every moment had something to laugh about. I would also highly recommend the tv show Kenny's World, just as fun!

A very funny/interesting movie shot id documentary style. My better half and I didn't know what to expect from the video as we had only heard one comment that it was funny so ... money well spent. Some touching parts and a 'real life' type of story - not glamorous, not fancy, down to earth and just regular guys. Fair warning - if your hearing is a bit off you may want to have the subtitles on as the accents are a bit thick in spots.

Den Film Kenny habe ich das erste Mal während meines einjährigen Aufenthaltes in Australien gesehen, und ich muss sagen, dass ich den australischen Slang damals besser verstanden habe als später, als ich den Film ein zweites Mal in Deutschland gesehen habe. Es ist nicht ganz einfach zu verstehen, und die schnelle Sprechweise und der lustige Sprachfehler des Hauptdarstellers und das Genuschel machens nicht einfacher. Andererseits ist es kein schwieriges Thema, und anhand der Bilder ist dem Film auch gut zu folgen. Dennoch erschließen sich die meisten Witze erst, wenn man die Unterhaltung auch versteht. Der Hauptdarsteller spielt hervorragend, es ist kaum zu glauben, dass es keine echte Doku, sondern gespielt ist. Man erfährt einiges über die "Toilettenhäuschenindustrie" im Allgemeinen und die australische Lebensweise und die gewisse lässig-australische Herangehensweise an die Arbeit im besonderen. Alles in allem sehr gelungen, besonders für Australienfans und Freunde schwarzen (Achtung, hier doppeldeutig) Humors!

classic Australian movie

amazon got my selection to me in record time no hassles. the dvd "kenny" is the funniest thing we have ever watched! . we saw part of it on tv one weekend and thought it was for real,thats how well it's filmed and acted out, it's filmed in documentary style, we thought how stupid is this guy it was very realistic and at the same time , so ridiculously funny. YOU NEED TO SEE THIS ONE TO BELIEVE IT trust me you will laugh out loud