We Can Be Heroes » Reviews » Sydney Morning Herald

by Greg Hassall

Tonight we bid fond farewell to Chris Lilley's exquisitely observed satire of contemporary Australian manners. Forget Kath & Kim - if you want a show that skewers the nation's pretensions and aspirations, while providing laugh-out-loud comedy, this is the real deal. Although its mockumentary style and self-deluded characters owe much to British shows such as The Office and People Like Us, it remains quintessentially Australian.

The final episode begins with Lilley's six comic creations coming together in Canberra for the State finals, which calls for some pretty nifty editing. There's an in-joke about celebrity cameos, with various guests mistaken for Claudia Karvan, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Gough Whitlam and Lleyton Hewitt, before the real Cathy Freeman makes a good-natured appearance, even singing a few lines from Ricky Wong's heroically naff musical Indigeridoo.

The results are revealed fairly quickly and we then jump forward a few months to see how each of the finalists was affected by his or her moment of glory. It would be unfair to reveal any details, but Lilley somehow manages to combine moments of cringe-inducing embarrassment, broad satire, pitch-black humour and genuine pathos. Quite an achievement for a writer and actor whose only TV experience until now was a few skits on two unmemorable Channel Seven sketch shows.

Lilley's ability to inhabit each of his characters has been remarkable. However absurd it might seem for a 30-year-old white guy to play an Asian uni student, 16-year-old schoolgirl or middle-aged housewife, he was never anything less than believable. Let's hope we see a lot more of him.