Truly Dreadful Film

Perfectly adorable

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Two strong points: Rhys Darby doesn't try too hard to be funny the whole time and the duck is a real duck (though the sounds have been pitched and timed to fit nicely into the story line, as does the Queen soundtrack). Rhys thought he had a good life, till his girl walked out on him. She is clearly ambitious and thought the fact he was living in his parents' house (even though it's his and well located) showed he wouldn't offer her the life she craved. And with the perfect looks for a trophy wife you'd think she'd have moved on from there. Yet her attempt to catch his poseur friend is treated by him as a nice one-night stand (shortly before he goes broke) and then she wants to get back with Rhys and train him to satisfy her needs - is there such a shortage of upwardly mobile materially driven yuppies in Auckland, indeed NZ? Well good for you guys, you obviously have better values in life and that's what this film is about. At the beginning we saw a pair of Shelducks (that bond for life, we are told) being shot at. One of them lands on Rhys' roof, with a damaged wing, which starts a relationship that leads to Rhys broaden his perspectives. Part of that process leads him to meet zoologist Sally Hawking. Who has a son by her deceased former husband, a boy who is in no hurry to see his father replaced, least of all by the man who had treated him badly when he accused him of stealing the duck from the zoo. You can see where this is all headed and I can understand why Sally reacted badly when told Rhys had a dinner date with his ex. But heck, a reunion was the only thing he could dream of after she'd ditched him, and Sally's son did seem to be a big barrier to taking that relationship any further. But anyway, love conquers all, even the damaged wing of a bird we were told would never fly again. Maybe Rhys and the Shelduck weren't so different after all!

A time-pass, slow paced New Zealand comedy-of-sorts. I watched it half asleep, and that's probably the best way to watch it. It's not a bad movie, but it's a far cry from a good one.Doug is happy with his life - good, but average job, great friends. His world is broken apart when his girlfriend dumps him for lacking ambition and drive in life. He discovers an injured duck and starts to nurse it to good health. The inclusion of the duck, which he names Pierre, forces him to change a lot of things in his life. In this course, he falls in love with veterinarian Holly, and gets into complications when his old girlfriend comes back to him seeing the changes in his life. The story is strained, and hiccupps in places. Very average movie, but peppered with old Queen songs.

Excellent movie! to those that find it not funny, it's probably because you have no concept of life in New Zealand. It is quirky. It is funny. It is a great story. Excellent movie. apparently i need 10 lines to be a real review, so i'll need to waffle on a bit more, but the just of this review remains. Good movie. If you want to watch something, be entertained, have a smile on your face and a happy tear in your eye, then watch this! Still got 3 more lines to go and the site warns me about padding the review, so i better stop and just be about the movie. Good to see Rhys being genuine and funny without trying too hard. Nice to see the mix of culture in the movie that New Zealand is fast becoming known for.

Loved it!!!! I think I must have grinned and smiled for almost the entire movie, interspersed with a few big laughs and also a couple of moments where I held my breath. Rhys Darby was excellent - I was already a fan of his from Flight of the Conchords and he didn't disappoint in this and held his own against the other actors. Bryan Brown was superb as well, although would have been great to have a few more quirky scenes with his character in them. I don't watch movies as often as I used to, so many times now after watching a movie I just feel like it was rubbish and a waste of time. This movie kept me engaged and entertained the whole time and I can honestly say I thoroughly enjoyed this warm-hearted little gem. An easy light-hearted and thoroughly engaging movie that anyone can enjoy. I wish they made more movies like this!