Sunny C
Interesting movie! Gives off early Tim Burton vibes in plot and setting, and while it might have some 80's/90's cheese it's delightfully weird. The main 3 actors do an amazing job, especially Phil, who is perfectly terrifying and odd as his character, and looks like he's having a blast playing him. Honestly, he steals every scene he's in. It was also cool to see a young Hugo Weaving, as I've grown up watching him in everything (mainly the Babe movies, The Matrix movies, Lord of the Rings movies, V for Vendetta)
There's a couple of songs in the movie, and it's a shame they couldn't get Phil to sing them, but I understand and it's still fun seeing his character jam out to them with his pet goose (yes, this character has a pet Annoying Goose).
Will warn anyone out there that has Emetophobia that there is a couple of brief scenes with the aforementioned thing in question. One that you can see coming, and one that you really can't.
This review might be a little biased because 1) Phil is my music idol and 2) As I get older, I'm more okay with some nostalgic "cheese", but this is honestly a movie that you'll either love or hate. And for a low budget weird film of its time, while I wish it went a little darker towards the end, this is pretty damn good.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
08/19/22
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Audience Member
A low budget Australian effort from the early 90's that saw Phil Collins trying to further an acting career, which started in earnest on the back of 'Buster' in 1988. 'Frauds' tells the story of a young yuppie(ish) couple, the Wheats (played by Josephine Byrnes and a young Hugo Weaving), who file an insurance claim for the robbery of some Edwardian cutlery from their house, only to be confronted by a strange insurance investigator, Roland Copping, whose methods and life revolve around very odd mannerisms.
The film isn't entirely successful in anything it sets out to achieve, really, and goes off the rails more than once. But, to its credit, it's never boring. The acting is uneven, to say the least, with Weaving coming out on top quite easily. Byrnes is ok, but seems to have an oddly dubbed American accent and Collins is serviceable, while never feeling like he's truly comfortable in the role. But, it's no surprise that out of the three leads, it's Hugo Weaving that would go on to have the better career.
It's an odd curio that's worth a watch and some of its stranger moments may live in the memory for a while.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
01/28/23
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Audience Member
http://letterboxd.com/zbender/film/frauds/
Agent Smith is about to take on an agent toe to toe. Whoever thought it would be my music idol Phil Collins? Phil plays an insurance agent... Of sorts. He's a bit fucked up in the head.
And that's where a lot of this movie will get enjoyment: absurdity. This is Phil coming off his 80s wave of popularity and he steals just about EVERY fucking scene. To me at least. Hugo Weaving does his role quite well, but Phil plays the role like he is having a fucking blast. And that really is what his character of Roland Copping sees: life is a game, and so he lives like it is one. Or maybe he's just a man-child. Either way whether Phil just struts across the screen, or even randomly takes a bite out of an apple (which all good villains do), he takes this movie over.
The tone is also weird as fuck. There are moments where I thought: this is a horror film, a thriller, crime, comedy, or even some weird supernatural-quasi.... I don't know. I don't fucking know! And to complement it the look of the film at the times will take place in Roland's house, which is a literal amusement park, or Weaving and his wife's home, which hasn't escaped the 80s quite yet. To conclude: it's everywhere.
Unfortunately, Phil's music is not here. Damn shame. The film moves along well enough for me and I'll admit it's probably biased because Phil Collins. However, I feel this movie may bode well for those looking for cheesy movies, which this movie at times oozes with.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
01/27/23
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Frances H
Sleuth (the original with Olivier and Michael Caine) meets an episode of Wild, Wild West old TV series with Dr. Loveless--that's what this slightly surrealistic film reminds me of.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
08/04/14
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Audience Member
I had the day off so I decided to sit through this life wasting adventure starring Phil Collins.It's hard to watch
Rated 0.5/5 Stars •
Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars
02/09/23
Full Review
Audience Member
First-time director Stephan Elliott breaks a lot of the rules by flinging typically disparate elements together with sublime confidence in order to creating a strange and deliberately unreal world for his eccentric characters. Elliott's thesis is that all men are children at heart - and that children are malicious, vindictive beasts. It's hardly an edifying conceit, and the movie has an over-insistent, meretricious feel about it.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
01/25/23
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