Indigenous Road Movies: Stone Bros.

I missed the other three films in this series of “Indigenous Road Movies,” but as I understand it Stone Bros. is a unique film in that it frames the aboriginal experience as not just a road movie, but as a raunchy stoner buddy-comedy, Cheech and Chong by way of Judd Apatow. It’s not a perfect film, but it succeeds brilliantly on its own terms as a piece of poppy, funny feel-good entertainment fit for the mainstream.

So it was surprising to me to learn that Stone Bros. did not really succeed at the box office, where it made back less than 3% of its relatively modest $3.4 million budget. This was clearly a film that was made with a large audience in mind, so it’s disheartening to learn it never found that audience. It’s been said that Australians don’t go to see Australian films, but even the dour Aussie arthouse drama Beautiful Kate managed to pull in over $1.6 million during its run at the box office. Beautiful Kate probably did not make back its production budget, either, but it attracted a larger audience than Stone Bros. on a scale of fifteen to one. Charlie & Boots, another Australian road comedy, released in the same month as Stone Bros but about white dudes, made $2.6 million. On the other hand, the critically acclaimed Aboriginal drama Samson and Delilah made $8.8 million.

So it’s not that Australians won’t see Australian movies, or even that they won’t see Aboriginal movies, it’s just that they didn’t see this one. Whatever the reason, I think that’s a shame. Stone Bros. has a lot of heart, and some pretty great performances at its centre. The laughs maybe don’t come as frequently as they should, and there are times when slapstick threatens to overwhelm the proceedings, but this is a likeable little movie, and it sheds some light on the difficulties faced by young Aboriginal men without ever encouraging the audience to pity or feel sorry for them.