Schuks! Pay Back the Money!
Director: Leon Schuster
Starring: Leon Schuster, Desmond Dube
Like its title, which requires not one, but two whole exclamation marks, Leon Schuster’s latest flick is about as garish and shouty as you would expect from the king of South African slapstick.
But that doesn’t mean you’re going to hate it. If its media premiere, which drew 1 000 people and packed out 11 of Ster-Kinekor Sandton’s cinemas, is anything to go by, this latest (and apparently last) Schuks movie will have you weeping with laughter.
The plot, not that anyone cares, sees Schuks in a predicament after he loses the Currie Cup rugby trophy. He is offered a way out of his R1 million fine by the sports minister (Desmond Dube): make a movie that portrays South Africa in a positive light.
In the format of many of Schuster’s earlier movies, candid camera gags – most of them with Schuks in various disguises, from an overweight French journalist to an Eskom official, a minister and so on – are interwoven with the flimsy plot.
During one scene, the film’s sole two Indian characters are depicted cooking curry in the Currie Cup. Coz like, curry ... Indians ... Curry Cup ... get it?
Is Leon Schuster racist? Do his films bring down our collective IQ? Does it even matter?
As much as critics like myself are wringing our hands, viewers are rolling in the aisles. Really, dear reader, do you even need to know what I think about Schuster? I know you’re too busy getting out your wallet so you can throw money at the cinema before it runs out of tickets.
What I will say is that Schuks! Pay Back the Money! is a real crowd pleaser.
I’ll just leave it at that.