Schuster is back on track

He has been amazingly successful in the past with this and there is no reason why he shouldn’t hit the jackpot again this holiday season with his latest film ‘Schuks! Your Country Needs You’.

Helped and abetted by established partners Gray Hofmeyr (director and writer) and diminutive actor Alfred Ntombela (Shorty), Schuster has roped in two new faces for this escapade. They are comedian Rob van Vuuren (who plays his son, Wayne) and the attractive Larè Birk. They work wonders as a team.

As in the past, Schuster has cobbled together a series of pranks to which unsuspecting members of the public – including celebrities like Afrikaans rapper Jack Parow – are subjected. In the process Schuster, often in heavy disguise, is on the receiving end of a few hard knocks – but that is all part of the fun.

I have never been a fan of the candid camera because of its repetitive nature and rampant silliness. Schuster, however, makes it work. He is spot-on in assessing the mood of the nation regarding e-tolling, road blocks, corrupt policemen, poor service delivery and the other ills that currently plague South African society.

In one of the film’s funniest scenes, a disguised Schuster, unrecognisable as an overweight ANC councillor in Reiger Park, addresses an irate crowd about new developments in the area, including a sewage pipeline that will filter into Cinderella Dam. He stirs up the crowd with hilarious results.

Director Gray Hofmeyr appears on the red carpet, 20 November 2013, for the movie premiere of ‘Schuks! Your Country Needs You’ at The Zone, Rosebank, Johannesburg. Picture: Alaister Russell

He tackles the e-toll dilemma by introducing ‘e-cycling’ and whips one elderly man into a froth over the subject. There is also an amusing sketch involving a crying baby left out in the sun that involves Ntombela.

Prostitution at Melrose Arch, cheating husbands and a biased rugby ref (Van Vuuren) who is nearly murdered by angry fans of the losing side all contribute to the mischief Schuster and his team get up to in the name of entertainment.

Van Vuuren, who has created some funny stage characters in the past, is given a generous chance to shine here and, together with Birk and Ntombela, he does his bit to help raise the comedy quotient. Many will feel they need something to laugh about now and Leon Schuster has come up with the right tonic.