The Nugget

Lotto, Wookie and Sue are three working class mates whose favourite pastime is to frolic in the outback on a futile hunt for gold, dodging the protestations of their spouses. One day however luck befalls the hapless trio when they happen upon a giant nugget of gold, making them instantly rich. Avarice soon takes over and former rock-solid friendships are torn asunder by rivalries and petty disagreements. Bill Bennett (Kiss or Kill, Spider and Rose) borrows from the set-up of John Huston’s “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” (1948) but inverts the drama in favour of slapstick comedy, trading on Aussie movie cliches (redneck attitudes, colloquial banter, ockerism, boozing, mateship) familiar themes from such comedies as “The Castle”, “Welcome to Woop, Woop”, “Muriel’s wedding” and even “They’re a weird mob” to create an allegorical fable about the perils of wealth cast in a fun, lightweight, albeit highly predictable, manner.