NZ’S new king of comedy
Take Home Pay (M, 104 mins) Directed by SQS Reviewed by James Croot ★★★★
Move over Tainui Kid, Sione’s Bolo and Ricky Baker – there’s a new Kiwi cinematic comedy king. Remember the name Bob Titilo, because he’s about to blow up big time.
As played by one half of The Laughing Samoans – Tofiga Fepulea’i –Titilo is a PI wannabe PI.
The 40-year-old, who still lives at home with his elderly mum, finally gets his big opportunity to prove his detective skills in the new movie Take Home Pay when he’s
enlisted by Samoan seasonal worker Alama (Vito Vito) to help find his brother.
After a fruitful period picking kiwifruit, Alama and Popo (former What Now presenter Ronnie Taulafo) are due to return to Samoa when Popo suddenly vanishes, along with their combined earnings. Miss their scheduled flight and they won’t be allowed to come back – ever.
Alama’s increasing desperation leads him to Titilo, who, convinced that Popo has been seduced by the bright lights of Auckland, begins to use his ‘‘special set of skills’’ to find his quarry. While you can’t quite say the third time’s the charm for multi-hyphenate film-maker SQS (better known to his mum as Stallone Vaiaoga-ioasa), Take Home Pay is another fabulous South Pacific crowdpleaser from the team who gave us Three Wise Cousins and Hibiscus & Ruthless.
Take Home’s story feels a little simpler and shaggier than the topnotch Ruthless, but this truly benefits from impressive production values, winning charm and the tour de force that is Fepulea’i.
A kind of Inspector Clouseauesque character, if played by a combination of John Candy and Harold Sakata (Goldfinger’s Odd Job), his Titilo offers seemingly endless delights.
From bagging chocolate and cookies as evidence, to an increasingly intense sing-off with a potential informant and a lessthan-high-speed chase through Central Auckland, Titilo steals every scene, and fortunately he’s in Take Home Pay a lot more than you’d expect.
He also gets to deliver some classic one-liners like, ‘‘How do you find a needle in a hay stack? Eat the hay’’, and goes on a Go-pro-shot, alcohol-infused ramble.
And it’s that kind of cinematic innovation and experimentation that also makes SQS and his tight band of collaborators (praised at the end of movie for their ability to work together ‘‘even if we run out of shortbread biscuits and toasties’’) one of the most exciting groups making movies in this country.
Throw in a trio of pitch-perfect cameos from Sam Neill, Oscar Kightley and David Tua and Take Home Pay is well worth spending your hard-earned readies on.