Not Quite Hollywood

This week's easiest comedy pick in Australia on Foxtel Now and ABC iview, and in the US on Philo and Dox Amazon Channel is Not Quite Hollywood. A tight runtime that never overstays its welcome. A 7/10 rating says what the writing already makes obvious: this one works. Phillip Adams sets the tone, and the rest of the cast matches it scene for scene. Available now on Foxtel Now — press play and find out why people keep recommending it.

Not Quite Hollywood is not trying to be everything to everyone, and that focus is exactly what makes it work. Not Quite Hollywood gets the fundamentals right first, then finds room to get weird with it. As Australian cinema broke through to international audiences in the 1970s through respected art house films like Peter Weir's "Picnic At Hanging Rock," a new underground of low-budget exploitation filmmakers were turning out considerably less highbrow fare. Documentary filmmaker Mark Hartley explores this unbridled era of sex and violence, complete with clips from some of the scene's most outrageous flicks and interviews with the renegade filmmakers themselves. Phillip Adams and Glory Annen lead a cast with the timing to make it work. It hit screens in 2008. Not Quite Hollywood earns its laughs from character rather than situation, which is why it does not wear thin the way pure farce tends to. It knows exactly what it is, and does not try to be anything else.

Comedy fans looking for a reliably funny watch will find it in Not Quite Hollywood. It rewards viewers regardless of what else is in their watch history. The complete film is available and best experienced without too much prior knowledge of where it goes. Phillip Adams's comic timing carries it through its weaker moments. The kind of comedy you recommend to someone who claims they do not watch much.

Not Quite Hollywood was released in 2008, directed by Mark Hartley. The full 103-minute film is available to watch now. Find exactly where it's streaming below, and TV Butler Pro makes it effortless to track your progress as you go. Just search the name, and Butler finds it instantly, tells you which service has it, and remembers exactly where you left off.