DATING THE ENEMY

Australia, 1996, 99 minutes, Colour.
Guy Pearce, Claudia Karvan, Lisa Hensley, Matt Day, John Howard, Arthur Dignam.
Directed by Megan Simpson Huberman.

Dating the Enemy has a synopsis that any reviewer might well dread. It tells us that two people change souls and have to deal with each other's appearances and each other's personality. This was a very popular theme in the late 80s, in the wake of Big and the other films where people changed into someone the opposite of themselves.

So, it was a surprise that, after a conventional enough start, to find that Dating the Enemy was quite enjoyable in a modest kind of way. Guy Pearce swaggers as a self-absorbed TV personality while Claudia Karvan is a rather prim researcher at a newspaper. There are tensions in their relationship - which get sorted out as they change souls and have to deal with each other's career and the way people respond to them.

Guy Pearce had a chance to primp and preen in Priscilla and he does well trying to be his feminine opposite and Claudia Karvan enjoys laying it on as a `typical' male.

Not essential viewing, but a chance for the chauvinists, especially, to see how obnoxiously macho, the macho style is. Nice surprise light comedy.

1. A light romantic comedy? Australian style? The stars? Genial screen presence?
2. The conventions of the comedy where characters change bodies? Experiencing the other from the inside? Having to cope with the exteriors? Friends, jobs?
3. The title, the relationship between Brett and Tash?
4. Sydney in the 1990s? Television stations? Journalists working for The Australian? Young adults, friendships and relationships?
5. The trivial pursuit game, Brett and his presence, Laetitia and her reaction? The arrival of Tash, shy and awkward? The game, the initial attraction between the two?
6. A year later? Brett, character, macho, his television program, on-screen presence, the possibility of going to New York? At meetings, suggestions? His behaviour on his program?
7. A year later? Tash, science, her investigations, articles, their being relegated to later pages? Her frustration? Her explaining to Brett about being at school, studying during the lunch break, contrasting with him sitting at the back, kissing all the girls?
8. The tension between the two, her expectations, his behaviour? Collette and her flirting? The socials, on the boat, her overhearing the truth about New York, upset, seeing him in the street with Colette, the break with Brett?
9. The full moon, the changing of bodies? The quotation from Jung at the beginning of the film, about harmonies and union? The later interview with the scientist and his theories of complementarity?
10. The comedy with Brett inside Tash’s body? His first reaction, the man in the woman’s body? his swagger, Claudia Karvan’s interpretation? One of the boys? At work, casual, the science articles? Clashes with the bosses? Resigning? Socially, the encounter with Rob, sexual implications? Physical complications?
11. The comedy with Tash inside Brett’s body? Going to the studio, the mincing manner, suggestions for programs, feelings of frustration? The statistics for successful programs? The exhibition and photos, sexual urges?
12. The background of Laetitia, giving advice to Tash, despising Brett, frustrated at the couple getting together? The contrast with Rob, attraction towards Tash, the sexual encounter, trying to tell Brett? The end with the two looking at each other?
13. Falling in love again in the vice versa situation, Brett helping Tash with her work as a journalist, TV career, helping Brett with his program, the clashing couple on television, the offer of the job in New York?
14. Themselves again? Brett and his interview, Tash and her feelings? His brainwave to suggest that they have hosts all over the world rather than his going to New York?
15. How much insight did the man get into the experience of a woman, the woman into the experience of a man? A basis for the future?