''Predicament'' is a 2010 comedy horror film based on the 1975 novel by

Ronald Hugh Morrieson Ronald Hugh Morrieson (29 January 1922 – 26 December 1972) was a novelist and short story writer in the New Zealand vernacular, who was little known in his home country until after his death. He earned his living as a musician and music teacher ...

and starring

Jemaine Clement Jemaine Atea Mahana Clement (born 10 January 1974) is a New Zealand actor, comedian, musician and filmmaker. He has released several albums with Bret McKenzie as the musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords, and created a comedy series of the ...

of the musical comedy duo

Flight of the Conchords Flight of the Conchords is a New Zealand musical comedy duo formed in Wellington in 1998. The band consists of multi-instrumentalists Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement. Beginning as a popular live comedy act in the early 2000s, the duo's comed ...

plus

Tim Finn Brian Timothy Finn (born 25 June 1952) is a New Zealand singer and musician. His musical career includes forming 1970s and 1980s New Zealand rock group Split Enz, a number of solo albums, temporary membership in his brother Neil's band Crowde ...

of the Finn Brothers. Filmed in Hawera and

Eltham Eltham ( ) is a district of southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. It is east-southeast of Charing Cross, and is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. The three wards of Elt ...

Taranaki Taranaki is a region in the west of New Zealand's North Island. It is named after its main geographical feature, the stratovolcano of Mount Taranaki, also known as Mount Egmont. The main centre is the city of New Plymouth. The New Plymouth Dist ...

, it was the last Morrieson novel to be adapted for cinema; his other three novels were filmed in the 1980s.

Plot

Predicament is ''a powerful and disturbing account of the psychological fantasy world of adolescence with the familiar small-town setting'' of Morrieson's writing, so is a coming-of-age novel and a crime comedy. Naïve teenager Cedric Williamson is involved with two older criminally inclined misfits in photographing and blackmailing amorous couples, and ends up an accomplice to murder. It is set in a 1930s Taranaki town similar to Morrieson's Hawera. But while Morrieson's first two novels were published in Australia, ''Predicament'' was rejected by

Angus & Robertson Angus & Robertson (A&R) is a major Australian bookseller, publisher and printer. As book publishers, A&R has contributed substantially to the promotion and development of Australian literature.Alison, Jennifer (2001). "Publishers and editors: A ...

. It went through numerous drafts, many abandoned, before (like ''

Pallet on the Floor ''Pallet on the Floor'' is a 1986 New Zealand made comedy-drama film, based on the final novel by Ronald Hugh Morrieson. Shot in 1983 at Patea, partly in a closed-down abattoir, the film was given limited release in New Zealand three years later. ...

'') being published posthumously by ''

Dunmore Press John Dunmore (born 6 August 1923) is a New Zealand academic, historian, author, playwright, and publisher. Biography Dunmore was born in Trouville-sur-Mer, France, lived in Jersey under German Occupation during World War II, and then in Englan ...

'' of Palmerston North in 1975.

Cast

Film

The opening scene is of a hunched figure digging in the darkness, and demonstrates Simon Raby's superb cinematography; as does the next (daytime) shot of a high rickety wooden tower built by Cedric's mentally unbalanced father Martin. But when the characters start talking, what ought to be a darkly hilarious crime comedy dissolves into mush, according to reviewer David Larsen. The screenplay was written by the director Jason Stutter, who ''chopped up and rearranged'' Morrieson's dialogue."The Predicament of dialogue" in ''The New Zealand Listener'' of 28 August 2010 p45

References

External links

*
''Predicament'' at NZonScreen (with video extracts)

''Predicament'' at the Rotten Tomatoes website
2010 films 2010 horror films Films set in New Zealand 2010 comedy horror films Films set in the 1930s Films shot in New Zealand Films based on New Zealand novels New Zealand comedy horror films 2010 comedy films 2010s English-language films {{comedy-horror-film-stub