Walk the talk

Shirley Barrett displayed a penchant for black comedy with her successful debut feature “Love serenade”. “Walk the talk”, her second feature, is a darkly comic tale about several deluded individuals trying to govern unreachable dreams of stardom. Joey is a con man fresh out of prison after serving a stint for selling fake cellulite cream. His girlfriend is Bonita, confined to a wheelchair, and awaiting a one million dollar compensation payout. Joey’s latest scheme on his road to glory is to sell the minimal talents of Nikki, a bad-tempered singer and dancer. Joey convinces Bonita to bankroll his idea and he creates a plan that will make both him and Nikki rich and famous. The cultural milieu unique to Surfers Paradise in Queensland is milked for laughs - Nikki’s father mocks her for being a showbiz failure, where as he has made it as an entertainer of pensioners between their rounds of bingo. When Joey’s grand scheme to make Nikki a star goes awry, he makes the decision that no act is unworthy if it results in fame, or at the very least infamy, for the pair.