Breaking Loose (1988)

Troubled Sydney medical student Ross (Peter Phelps) decides to head north after encountering trouble with the police and a bikie gang who look like ridiculous extras from Mad Max (1979).

He wants to discover more about the long-dead father he never knew, so he visits the small coastal town of Wundarra to see his mother’s old friend Robbie (Vince Martin), an easy-going guy who makes surfboards and shares a makeshift shack on the beach with his Aboriginal mate and business partner Davie (David Ngoombujarra).

Ross has a few run-ins with the local cops (who like planting cocaine on people they don’t like), politely fends off the menopausal advances of Helen (Abigail), a bucolic matron seeking solace from her war-torn marriage with Neville (John Clayton), wonders when the bikies are going to catch up with him, and contemplates the possibility of a life without hassles.

With its antique slang and faith echoes of Rebel Without a Cause (1955), Breaking Loose has the solemn air of having been made by very dull, conservative, middle-aged people who have convinced themselves – against all the evidence of their own film – that they are tuned in to how the kids of the day think, behave and feel.

The film – unashamedly made for the teen market – is a notional follow-up to Summer City (1977), which starred Mel Gibson.

Ross
Peter Phelps
Robbie
Vince Martin
Davie
David Ngoombujarra
Helen
Abigail
Neville
John Clayton
Sampson
Shane Feeney-Connor
Jacky
Angela Kennedy
Tammie
Sharon Tamlyn
Copper
Gary Waddell
Junior
Carlo Bianchino
Caroline
Sandra Lee Paterson
Rick
Tom Richards
Skunk
Kristoffer Greaves
Crystal
Katey Grusovin
Shazar
Dee Krainz
Wezel
John Godden
Spags
Dar Davies
Sleaze
Brian Ellison
Lash
Don Vaughn
Reynolds
Russell Newman
Brad
Alex Broun
Grant
Jeremy Shadlow
Jack’s Dad
John De Ville
Murf the Surf
Tony Murphy
Scollop
Phillip Avalon

Director
Rod Hay