Movie gem from Down Under is sure to charm your pants off
By Phil Villarreal
Pvillarreal@azstarnet.com
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 08.07.2008
Kenny loves his work, even though he has to put up with a lot of crap.
The portable-toilet man, hero of the Aussie comedy "Kenny," waxes on about the beauty and honor in human waste management. Dressed in a ball cap and overalls, the rotund Kenny delivers and sets up his potties, then runs around putting out fires with the vigor of a superhero.
Women lose their wedding rings, urine will start spouting out the back of the johns, rascals will tip them over and set them aflame, and Kenny (Shane Jacobson) is always there in an instant with a philosophical quip and a stoic resolution.
Talking with a speech impediment and such a thick Melbourne accent that subtitles run on the bottom of the screen, Kenny — dignified and self-assured — tugs you through his trials and joys on and off the job in the winning faux-documentary, filmed in a style with hints of TV's "The Office."
That's winning in both a literal and figurative sense. Released in 2006 in Australia, the comedy picked up a slew of nominations and awards from the Australian Film Institute and the Film Critics Circle of Australia.
The film is a family affair. Jacobson collaborated on the screenplay with his brother, Clayton, who directs and stars in a small role as Kenny's snobby brother. The men's father, Ronald, plays their crusty dad, and Clayton's kid, Jesse, plays Kenny's boy, whom he hardly sees because his domineering ex-wife.
Kenny puts up with an admirable amount of derision from those who are grossed out by his profession, but never takes an insult personally. Kenny's a master of keeping his dignity in undignified situations.
He rationalizes that what he deals with is completely natural, and in fact is 85 percent water. Kenny also spins a historical yarn about the origin of a four-letter term for feces and describes how the ancient Greeks used refuse to predict the future. His one pet peeve? When it comes out green, a color, he says, fit only for apples, pears and Martians.
The comedy is mostly a slice-of-lifer, with a rare twist coming when Kenny's boss sends him on a plane — his first flight — to the International Pumper and Cleaner Expo in Nashville, Tenn. There he joyfully hobnobs with other toilet-obsessives and starts hanging out with Jackie (Eve von Bibra), a flight attendant who Kenny would realize is crushing on him if he weren't too innocent to notice.
The romantic aloofness is all part of Kenny's charm. He's an untouchable, indomitable saint of plastic outhouses.
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