''Horseplay'' is a 2003 Australian

Comedy drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple co ...

film, written & directed by

Stavros Kazantzidis Stavros Kazantzidis is a Greek-Australian writer, director and producer. Achievements Kazantzidis's film career was kick-started in 1992, when ''Road to Alice'', a short film he both wrote and directed, won 'Best Short Film' at the Australian F ...

and co-written & produced by

Allanah Zitserman Allanah Zitserman is an Australian scriptwriter and film producer, founder of Dungog Film Festival, and director of Lumila Films. Education Zitserman graduated from University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) in 1998 with a Bachelor of Business a ...

, starring

Abbie Cornish Abbie Cornish (born 7 August 1982) is an Australian actress. Cornish is best known for her film roles as Heidi in ''Somersault'' (2004), Fanny Brawne in '' Bright Star'' (2009), Sweet Pea in ''Sucker Punch'' (2011), Lindy in '' Limitless'' (201 ...

and

Marcus Graham Marcus Graham (born 11 October 1963) is an Australian film, television (including both serials and mini-series) and stage actor and director, with roles including ''Mulholland Drive'' and '' Josh Jarman''. He was known as a teenage heartthrob i ...

. The film is set around the famous

Melbourne Cup The Melbourne Cup is a Thoroughbred horse race held in Melbourne, Australia. It is a 3200-metre race for three-year-olds and over, conducted by the Victoria Racing Club on the Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria as part of the Melbou ...

horse race, in Melbourne, Australia. The film was released on 22 May 2003.

Plot

Lovable rogue Max Mackendrick dreams about winning big on the Melbourne Cup. Set in the colourful world of horseracing, Horseplay follows the chaotic life of a wannabe horse trainer as he deals with the turf, the ladies and everyone else out to get him.

Production

The filmmakers said they were inspired by Jacobean theatre and Ealing comedies of the 1950s. Shooting began on 5 November 2001 and finished seven weeks later.

Soundtrack

# "Would I Lie to You" –

Deborah Conway Deborah Ann Conway (born 8 August 1959) is an Australian rock singer-songwriter and guitarist, and had a career as a model and actress. She was a founding member of the 1980s rock band Do-Ré-Mi with their top 5 hit "Man Overboard". Conw ...

# "

Every 1's a Winner ''Every 1's a Winner'' is the fourth studio album by British band Hot Chocolate. It was released in April 1978 on the RAK Records label in the UK and the Infinity Records label in the US. The album peaked at number 30 on the UK Albums Chart and ...

" –

Kate Ceberano Catherine Yvette Ceberano ( or , born 17 November 1966) is an Australian singer and actress who performs in the soul, jazz, and pop genres, as well as in film and musicals such as '' Jesus Christ Superstar''. Her song " Pash" received a gold ...

# "

The Thrill Is Gone "The Thrill Is Gone" is a slow minor-key blues song written by West Coast blues musician Roy Hawkins and Rick Darnell in 1951. Hawkins's recording of the song reached number six in the Billboard R&B chart in 1951. In 1970, "The Thrill Is Gon ...

– Renee Geyer # "Everybody" –

Abi Tucker Abigail Anne "Abi" Tucker (born 22 January 1973) is an Australian singer-songwriter and actress. She has had roles in television series-telemovies in ''Heartbreak High'' (1994-1995), '' Water Rats'' (1999), '' Wildside'' (1999), ''The Secret L ...

# "The Payback – James Brown # "Now That We've Found Love" – Third World # "

I See You Baby "I See You Baby" is a song by British duo Groove Armada, featuring Gram'ma Funk on vocals. The song was also recorded with the chorus line "shakin' that thang" (to replace "shakin' that ass") for various markets around the world, and also for us ...

" –

Groove Armada Groove Armada are an English electronic music duo, composed of Andy Cato and Tom Findlay. They achieved chart success with their singles "At the River", "I See You Baby" and "Superstylin'". The duo have released nine studio albums, four of whic ...

# "I Just Wanna Be Loved" – Etherfo # "You Took All I Had" – Etherfo # "Watch My Lips" –

Nigel Westlake Nigel Westlake is an Australian composer, musician and conductor. As a composer for the screen, his film credits include the feature films ''Ali's Wedding'', '' Paper Planes'', ''Miss Potter'', ''Babe'', '' Babe: Pig in the City'', '' Children of ...

# "Relax Max" – Nigel Westlake # "Would You Kill For It" – Nigel Westlake # "Race Fixing" – Nigel Westlake # "Till Death Us Do Part" – Nigel Westlake # "Torpedo" – Nigel Westlake # "The Train Ride to Hell" – Nigel Westlake # "Don't Move" – Nigel Westlake # "Just Drive" – Nigel Westlake # "Horny Ed" – Nigel Westlake # "Ecstasy" – Nigel Westlake # "He's The Guy" – Nigel Westlake # "Case Dismissed" – Nigel Westlake

References

External links

* * 2003 films Australian comedy-drama films Films scored by Nigel Westlake 2000s English-language films 2000s Australian films {{2000s-Australia-film-stub