| Stone Bros. | |
| Director: | Richard Frankland |
| Producer: | Ross Hutchens Colin South John Foss |
| Starring: | Luke Carroll Leon Burchill Valentino del Toro Peter Phelps |
| Music: | Shane O'Mara |
| Cinematography: | Joseph Pickering |
| Editing: | Meredith Watson Jeffery |
| Runtime: | 90 minutes |
| Country: | Australia |
| Language: | English |
| Budget: | $3,400,000 |
| Gross: | $99,032 |
Stone Bros. (alternatively titled Stoned Bros) is a 2009 Aboriginal Australian stoner comedy film directed by Richard Frankland.[1] It was theatrically released in Australia on 24 September 2009.
Eddie (Carroll) is working as a cleaner in a museum in Perth, Western Australia, but loses his job because of an accident that sees a series of cardboard cutout images of Australia's Prime Ministers fall down in a domino effect, resulting in an image of John Howard landing on and killing his boss's cat.
When his cousin Charlie (Burchill) trades away Eddie's favourite jacket, he unwittingly loses a sacred stone, entrusted to Eddie by his uncle, which he promised to one day return to its home in Kalgoorlie. This is the final straw, as far as Eddie is concerned, and he sets off to recover the stone and reconnect with his aboriginal roots. Charlie, escaping the wrath of his vengeful girlfriend, forces himself along for the ride, and Eddie's spiritual journey takes a very sharp turn off-track.
Along the way, they pick up what Charlie mistakes for a "hot chick" only to find they are landed with Vinnie (del Torro), a self-described Italian rock star. Soon after they are joined by Eddie and Charlie's transgender cousin Regina (Page), who dreams of making it big on the Koori edition of Australian Idol,[2] and a confused European Australian cop (Phelps) who dreams of going walkabout.[3] [4]
The film is widely regarded as the first feature length Aboriginal Australian comedy film. When asked why there were so few Aboriginal comedies, director Richard Frankland stated that:
The film was released in Australian cinemas on 24 September 2009 and grossed $24,992 on its opening week in the Australia cinemas. The film ultimately grossed $99,032, making it the 235th highest-grossing film in Australia for 2009.[5]
Director Richard Frankland had originally hoped that teenagers would form a large part of the viewing audience for Stone Bros., however the film received an MA15+ rating, preventing this age group from seeing it at the cinema. This rating was supposedly given due to a deleted scene that involved marijuana buds being cut from a plant.[6]