Nora (Noni Hazlehurst in her first starring movie role) – a 33-year-old single mother living in a commune – wants a love with “no fade from distance in it”. What she gets is Javo (Colin Friels), a 23-year-old actor whose life is “a messy holiday of living off his friends”.
He is a junkie, but it is Nora who is addicted. Smack habit, love habit – what’s the difference? They can both kill you.
The band seen in the film was Divinyls who played their own songs. The inclusion of the band was instrumental in the film appealing to a youth audience and providing the movie with a popular soundtrack album.
Band singer Christina Amphlett also had a supporting role in the film.
Doc Neeson, vocalist with the Australian rock band The Angels, was originally cast in the lead role of Javo but withdrew from the film when The Angels were offered a lucrative international tour a few weeks prior to the start of filming. The role was re-cast with Colin Friels.
Young Alice Garner is a knock-out as Nora’s daughter, Gracie. She has some of the best lines and makes many of the lacklustre lines seem fresh and right.
The film was set in Melbourne, Australia, but (except for one week’s filming there) was actually shot in Sydney.
Nora
Noni Hazlehurst
Javo
Colin Friels
Gracie
Alice Garner
Willie
Harold Hopkins
Lillian
Candy Raymond
Clive
Michael Caton
Martin
Tim Burns
Angela
Christina Amphlett
Gerald
Don Miller-Robinson
Rita
Lisa Peers
Eve
Cathy Downes
Roaster
Justin Ridley
Juliet
Pearl Christie
Jessie
Vera Plevnik
Ramondo
Jamie Fonti
Director
Ken Cameron