Two out of
Five stars
Running time:
92 mins
Watchable road comedy that isn't nearly as funny as a film about stand-up comedians ought to be.
What's it all about?
Dave (David Kibuuka) is a dishwasher and wannabe stand-up comedian who can't seem to make anyone laugh. His best friends (although they belittle him behind his back) are successful comedian Kags (Kagiso Lediga), who refuses to mend his womanising ways, despite the increasing seriousness of his relationship with girlfriend Kim (Kim
Engelbrecht), and Muslim comedian Joey (Joey Yusuf Rasdien), who struggles to balance his religion with his career and his relationship with high-maintenance girlfriend Angela (Angela Chow).
When the friends get the opportunity to perform at the Oppikoppi comedy festival, they get hold of a car and head off on a road trip, taking aimless weirdo and general hanger-on Cope (Jason Cope) along for the ride. Once at the festival, each of the friends has their own goal in mind, but things don't quite work out as planned.
The Good
There are several decent scenes and the film offers an interesting glimpse into a world that is both instantly familiar and yet considerably different from what we normally see on screen.
The Bad
The performances are as good as you'd expect, considering each character is playing a fictionalised version of themselves. However, though each of the four main characters is likeable enough on the surface, we never really get to know any of them, so it's hard to care too much about whether they succeed or not.
It also doesn't help that the script is surprisingly low on decent jokes, especially considering the characters are meant to be stand-up comedians – we don't even get to see them perform properly. Similarly, there's no chemistry between Kags and Kim, so we don't care about their relationship, while Dave's concert hook-up with gorgeous organiser Carla (Keren Neumann) is frustratingly under-developed so its conclusion lacks the emotional impact it might have had.
Worth seeing?
Bunny Chow is never less than watchable but it's often frustrating thanks to an unfocussed script and under-developed characters.