The scene with Davis in the box was a long scene with important new information, and Joffe recalls it took them two days to shoot it. They decided to concentrate on Davis, on the basis that there was always something going on in her performance, and if they followed her, viewers would believe everything. In the DVD commentary, director Mark Joffe notes that one of the earlier drafts of the script had Billy Connolly’s character nearly drowning in the opening storm sequence, and to save himself from drowning, chopping off his toe. He jokes that to be truthful, the reason they didn’t do it had nothing to do with the concept; it was expediency - they couldn’t afford to go underwater, and do all that, but he doesn’t think it affected the film. Writer Don Watson agrees, though he thinks the drowning scenes were terrific. Joffe adds that the budget for the special effects etc, were astronomical. c. 7’15”, Connolly, a reformed alcoholic, and teetotaller, wasn’t actually drinking beer in this scene, but rather ginger beer. Joffe jokes that he consumed a lot of cans of the fake VB during the shoot. Maggie Blincoas a Plaintiff: Blinco was still working into her eighties and was listed on Showcast, here, saved to WM here. The insurance companies and the imprecise language they use are the real targets of the film and they come off very badly at every turn.

My biggest quibble, though, is with the casting of the two principals. Connolly, a very talented actor, played the whole thing with a degree of high amusement which I found highly improbable given the financial disaster which was staring him and his nearest and dearest in the face. I'm not sure whether this was his fault or the director's. And his broad Scots accent meant that Colin Friels had to adopt a Scots accent (native, apparently), which failed to convince throughout. Mark Joffe has spent several summer holidays at Bermagui and admits that the feeling of the town inevitably permeated the screenplay. in, Bridie did a slightly ethereal cue with a religious feel, for the scene where again Connolly is on a bus (bound for Eden), and has the chance when it stops to read the sign “He who does not love his brother, cannot love God, John 4:20”. Joffe says that the Eden sign is an absolute coincidence, and attributes it to divine intervention. They didn’t plan to have it.Watson says that the film caricatures the Anglican church, and that it was largely written from a Catholic and Jewish angle (Joffe certifies to the Jewish perspective), but they noted very few complaints from any of the churches about their representation. Watson jokes that these days the churches are happy for any publicity. Billy seems to spend an awful lot of time mooning around churches and the 'divine intervention' bit is embarassingly bad and entirely unnecessary. Quite frankly, whoever came up with this scene should be shot!

Outdoor scenes for the film were shot in two weeks during February 2001. Originally producer Ben Gannon had wanted to shoot the scenes around Pittwater north of Sydney, but later settled on the small village of Bermagui, New South Wales on the state's South Coast due to the production values it afforded. Bermagui had been suggested by director Mark Joffe as it was his favourite holiday spot. [1] The fishing boat featured in the film was a charter vessel the ' Tarpin', hired from Bermagui Boat Harbour. [2] Indoor scenes and post-production were located in Sydney. Joffe jokes that there’s the odd line in the film that isn’t too kind to journalists, but ironically, at 17’13” we see a scene shot in the real then Fairfax (later Nine) headquarters in Sydney, publisher of the Sydney Morning Herald and Sun-Herald. According to Joffe, the court interiors were shot in Concord in Western Sydney, at Rivendell, a home for troubled youth. (wiki here). Judy Davis lends her trademark intensity to her work in a film where nearly everyone seems to gel, even if Wendy Hughes as Jules seems forced in her performance. The ideas are lively if confused and there's a lovely surrealistic touch or two that gives this movie a depth far beyond comedy. mins on, with Billy Connolly’s closing argument (he withdraws from the case to avoid his brother being called, and then the judge kindly allows him to carry on with his speechifying), Joffe suggests previous inspirations, such as Billy Wilder’s films, and Tracy and Hepburn, and Jimmy Stewart doing his man of the people against the system routine (again the lawyer is allowed to roam and come up to the bench during the speech).

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As a filmmaker that’s very appealing because you’re always trying to find material that is going to reach the widest possible audience.” A lot of comedy scripts, for reasons best known to the writer, tend to lean towards comfortable situations, where everyone's quite nice and gets funny lines. But I find, when it comes to politics and religion, the situation should carry the comedy along, not the writing. I think discomfort, and it's the same with my act, creates funny. Extreme discomfort, like having no trousers when everyone else has got theirs on, is funny. Or sex is only funny if somebody's watching, you know? To emphasise the extended period of script development, director Mark Joffe notes that the line where the Jewish rabbi hopes that God exists - he spent half the morning singing to him - had stayed in the script for some twelve years. Now no doubt there are good legal reasons why the above couldn't happen although it's usual that whenever theology gets bantered about the arguments never seem to make much real sense. For the 28’05” headland scene between Davis and Connolly, Bridie says they called the cue “Aphex Twin” because the rhythm layers underneath it sounded a bit like the Sheffield band. He used a piano, accordion, valve mikes and layers of programming underneath to get an organic feel, a technique he used for quite a few of the film’s cues.