Danny Deckchair is a 2004 Australian comedy film written and directed by Jeff Balsmeyer. The majority of Danny Deckchair was shot in Bellingen, a Mid North Coast town in New South Wales.
It was inspired by the story of "Lawnchair Larry" (Larry Walters).
Plot
Danny Morgan (Ifans) works as a cement maker driver and construction worker who lives with his girlfriend Trudy (Clarke) in a big city but is unhappy with his life. Danny is also an inventive character who, one day, ties a bunch of helium-filled balloons to his deckchair during a party. His friends hold down the chair but inadvertently let go and Danny is set on an airborne adventure across Australia, which causes him to become a national sensation. As he floats over idyllically beautiful rural landscapes, totally foreign to the concrete structures of his discontent, he appears on the verge of some enlightenment. After he's beaten up in a rugged ride through a thunderstorm, fireworks from a small town's harvest festival burst his balloons. He lands in Glenda's tree as the remnants of his chair float away. Glenda (Otto) takes him into her house, which belonged to her parents. As he recovers from the harrowing end to his journey, Danny doesn't tell Glenda about the deckchair or where he comes from. Glenda, desperate to keep Danny for her own, tells her friends and neighbours that her visitor is an old professor from her college days. As Danny explores the town, her friends wonder about his past relationship with Glenda, but are glad that the withdrawn, and sometimes despised, traffic officer is with someone special. His mysterious past, detached demeanor and off-the-wall ideas make him an instant hit with the townsfolk and he becomes involved in an aspiring politician's campaign. Glenda shows Danny pictures of her parents on a motorcycle exploring the country and shows him the bike, which, for sentimental reasons, she keeps in the shed. When Glenda is at work, Danny fixes up the old motorcycle.
All the while, the big city media can't get enough coverage of Danny's disappearance, constantly broadcasting interviews of his friends, family and co-workers. Trudy takes up with a reporter (Muldoon) who is covering the story while Danny is finding a soul mate in Glenda. Their budding relationship is not viewed by everyone in town as all peaches-and-cream, however. Their flirtations arouse jealousy and suspicion in Glenda's male co-worker, the town's police supervisor, who busts them for speeding when they take Glenda's motorcycle out for a ride. But nothing fazes Danny as he continues to immerse himself in his ideal world, where he gives a stirring speech at a political rally. Some kids find the deck chair and Danny's past sweeps over him in a torrent of media frenzy. Trudy comes to the town to reclaim him and take him back to the big city, where she can bask in his new-found fame.
As Danny's half-truths come to light, Glenda is angry that she was deceived and she rails against Danny as he's whisked away. But there's an underlying hurt in Glenda. Not only is Danny a changed man but he has also changed Glenda, who finally admits to herself that her life is in a dead end. She decides it's time for a change. Danny, unhappily plugged back into his old city life, uses the connections his media storm has forged to parachute into Glenda's town to win her back. He successfully lands in front of her house, but she feels betrayed and drives away before he gets a chance to explain the truth to her. As she drives Danny learns that a cord of his parachute is accidentally caught on her motorcycle, and before he knows it, he is being dragged through the air by her. After awhile Glenda notices she is towing him too, and stops the bike. He lands on her and she looks into his eyes and kisses him.
Cast
Awards nominations
See also
External links
