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
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Ross
Neville
Caroline
Spags
