A romantic comedy with serious balls

Has an Australian filmmaker finally cracked the rarely attempted romantic comedy genre? Colin Delaney visits the set of Not Suitable for Children to find out if Oscar nominated, first time feature director Peter Templeman’s flick about testicular cancer has the balls to make it big at the box office.

A mismatched collection of twenty somethings loiter in front of a large old house in Eveleigh, south of Sydney’s CBD. Goths, surfers, hipsters and stoners make up the group. Inside it’s shoulder-to-shoulder with revellers filling hallways and stairwells. The event is not just thrown together either – flashing lights and disco balls suggest the members of this household take their parties seriously. And the amount of drugs and alcohol circulating certainly deem the environment unsuitable for children.

Encore is on the set of Oscar-nominated Peter Templeman’s feature film debut Not Suitable For Children, starring Ryan Kwanten (True Blood, Griff the Invisible) as the lazy playboy, Jonah. Never struggling to find a bed-mate, but never settling for just one, Jonah feels his biological clock speed up when he discovers a lump on one of his testicles.

The film follows his quest to find someone to mother his child while there is still time. Helping Jonah with the cause are his flatmates, Gus and Stevie who acts as his ‘womb agent’, setting him up with girls she thinks will be a suitable ‘host’ for his unborn offspring. Producer Jodi Matterson says, “It’s a traditional romantic comedy, but in reverse as Jonah crashes through his ex-girlfriends. We think he is going to end up with the ex who is the love of his life yet we see this friendship with Stevie simmering into a relationship.”