''Stone Bros.'' (alternatively titled ''Stoned Bros'') is a 2009 Aboriginal Australian stoner comedy film directed by

Richard Frankland Richard Joseph Frankland is an Australian playwright, scriptwriter and musician. He is an Aboriginal Australian of Gunditjmara origin from Victoria. He has worked significantly for the Aboriginal Australian cause. Biography Richard J. Frank ...

. It was theatrically released in Australia on 24 September 2009.

Plot

Eddie (Carroll) is working as a cleaner in a museum in

Perth, Western Australia Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, but loses his job because of an accident that sees a series of cardboard cutout images of Australia's

Prime Ministers A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

fall down in a

domino effect A domino effect or chain reaction is the cumulative effect generated when a particular event triggers a chain of similar events. This term is best known as a mechanical effect and is used as an analogy to a falling row of dominoes. It typically ...

, resulting in an image of

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the s ...

landing on and killing his boss's cat. When his cousin Charlie (Burchill) trades away Eddie's favourite jacket, he unwittingly loses a sacred stone, entrusted to Eddie by his uncle, which he promised to one day return to its home in

Kalgoorlie Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includ ...

. This is the final straw, as far as Eddie is concerned, and he sets off to recover the stone and reconnect with his aboriginal roots. Charlie, escaping the wrath of his vengeful girlfriend, forces himself along for the ride, and Eddie's spiritual journey takes a very sharp turn off-track. Along the way, they pick up what Charlie mistakes for a "hot chick" only to find they are landed with Vinnie (del Torro), a self-described Italian rock star. Soon after they are joined by Eddie and Charlie's

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

cousin Regina (Page), who dreams of making it big on the

Koori Koori (also spelt koorie, goori or goorie) is a demonym for Aboriginal Australians from a region that approximately corresponds to southern New South Wales and Victoria. The word derives from the Indigenous language Awabakal. For some people an ...

edition of ''

Australian Idol ''Australian Idol'' is an Australian singing competition, which began its first season in July 2003 and ended its initial run in November 2009. As part of the ''Idol'' franchise, Australian Idol originated from the reality program ''Pop Idol' ...

'', and a confused

European Australian European Australians are citizens or residents of Australia whose ancestry originates from the peoples of Europe. They form the largest panethnic group in the country. At the 2021 census, the number of ancestry responses categorised within Eu ...

cop (Phelps) who dreams of going

walkabout Walkabout is a rite of passage in Australian Aboriginal society, during which males undergo a journey during adolescence, typically ages 10 to 16, and live in the wilderness for a period as long as six months to make the spiritual and traditiona ...

Cast

Luke Carroll Luke Carroll is an Australian stage, television and film actor. Education Carroll attended Marcellin College Randwick and graduated in 1996. Television and film Carroll started out in guest roles in some Australian shows, including ''The Flyin ...

as Eddie *

Leon Burchill Leon Burchill is an Australian actor. He played Charlie in ''Stone Bros.'', Frankie in ''Redfern Now'' and Benny in ''Wyrmwood ''Wyrmwood'' (also known as ''Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead'') is a 2014 Australian action-horror film directed by Kiah ...

as Charlie * Valentino del Toro as Vinnie (Italian Stallion) *

Peter Phelps Peter Phelps (born 20 September 1960 in Sydney) is an Australian actor, singer and writer. He is notable for his role as Trevor Cole in ''Baywatch''. Phelps is also known for his roles in the internationally successful Australian series '' So ...

as Mark (Prison Guard) * David Page as Regina * Luke Hewitt as Barry * Rohanna Angus as Rhonda *

Jai Courtney Jai Courtney (; born 15 March 1986) is an Australian actor. He started his career with small roles in films and television series before being cast as Charlie in the action film ''Jack Reacher'' (2012). He has gone on to star in ''A Good Day to ...

as Eric *

Sarah Rachael Olivia Lawrence Sarah Rachael Olivia Lawrence (born 1 May 1986) is an Australian model, comedian and TV personality. She is best known for her role in the Australian feature film ''Stone Bros.'' Career Lawrence started her career when she applied for a casti ...

as Elizabeth

Production

The film is widely regarded as the first feature length Aboriginal Australian comedy film. When asked why there were so few Aboriginal comedies, director Richard Frankland stated that:

Box office

The film was released in Australian cinemas on 24 September 2009 and grossed $24,992 on its opening week in the Australia cinemas. The film ultimately grossed $99,032, making it the 235th highest-grossing film in Australia for 2009. Director

had originally hoped that teenagers would form a large part of the viewing audience for ''Stone Bros.'', however the film received an MA15+ rating, preventing this age group from seeing it at the cinema. This rating was supposedly given due to a deleted scene that involved

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...

buds being cut from a plant.

Soundtrack

# "The Opening" – Shane O'Mara # "

Used to Get High "Used to Get High" is a radio promotional single by Australian jam band, The John Butler Trio from their fourth studio album ''Grand National''. It was released by Jarrah Records in November 2007. It deals with the issue of addiction, and the man ...

" –

John Butler Trio The John Butler Trio are an Australian roots/rock band led by guitarist and vocalist John Butler, an APRA and ARIA-award-winning musician. They formed in Fremantle in 1998 with Jason McGann on drums, Gavin Shoesmith on bass and John Butler on vo ...

# "Warriors for Life" –

Tjimba and the Yung Warriors Yung Warriors (also called Tjimba and the Yung Warriors) are an Australian hip hop group, formed in 2007. They released their debut album ''Warrior for Life'' in June 2007. Yung Warriors played at 2008 Big Day Out, at Yabun in Sydney, and at t ...

# "Foxtrot" – Shane O'Mara # "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" –

Kay Starr Katherine Laverne Starks (July 21, 1922 – November 3, 2016), known professionally as Kay Starr, was an American singer who enjoyed considerable success in the late 1940s and 1950s. She was of Iroquois and Irish heritage. Starr performed multip ...

# "Pardon My Passion" –

Mary G Mark Bin Bakar is an Indigenous Australian musician, comedian and radio announcer, writer, director/producer as well as an indigenous rights campaigner based in Broome, in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. He is best known for his r ...

# "Triumph" – Shane O'Mara # "Dark Wind" –

# "Look for Me" – The Charcoal Club # "Moonstruck" –

Sara Storer Sara Bettine Storer (born 6 October 1973) is an Australian country music singer-songwriter and former teacher. She won a record breaking seven Golden Guitar awards in the Tamworth Country Music Festival in January 2004, and as of 2017, she has w ...

# "Lonely Guy" – Shane O'Mara # "Lets Pretend" – Jack Blanchard & Misty Morgan # "Thou Shalt Not Steal" – John Butler Trio # "Banjo Boogie" – Shane O'Mara # "Asunder" – The Charcoal Club # "Last Tear" – The Charcoal Club

References

External links

*
Stone Bros. DVD
*

@ Creative Spirits {{Films and television series about Aboriginal Australia 2009 films 2009 comedy films Australian comedy films Films set in Western Australia Films about Aboriginal Australians Transgender-related films Fictional duos Stoner films Australian LGBT-related films 2009 LGBT-related films 2000s English-language films