Review – Paper Giants: The Birth Of Cleo

Paper Giants: The Birth Of Cleo – ABC1 – 8:30pm Sunday/Monday – AUS

In the past twelve months Asher Keddie has starred in the Channel 10 series Offspring, the Channel 10 telemovie Hawke, and now the ABC miniseries Paper Giants. It’s a credit to her ability as an actress that I won’t be simply spending this review bemoaning the incredibly shallow pool of talent with which Australian television has to choose from. Paper Giants, about Ita Buttrose, Kerry Packer and the creation of Cleo magazine, has a lot in common with last year’s enjoyable Hawke. Hawke was anchored by Richard Roxburgh’s stellar performance, and Keddie whose spot on portrayal as Ita Buttrose carries this series through any weak moments.

As soon as Keddie opened her mouth and that iconic Ita Buttrose lisp came out I was a little worried this get very silly very quickly but it took just three sentences and Keddie had become the role, and wasn’t just doing a broad caricature. Her Ita is a quick witted, strong woman who relishes the opportunity to make an Australian equivalent to Cosmopolitan an in the first part of the two part series (the second part airs tonight), she goes about setting up her team and launching the mag to near instant sell-out numbers. Paper Giants chronicles the mishaps and stumbling blocks along the way, whilst also highlighting the importance of a young Kerry Packer (Rob Carlton) in getting the magazine off the ground.

In Hawke Roxburgh’s wonderful performance was surrounded by a lot of good characters that weren’t quite up to his level. Carlton’s an enjoyable actor, and his performance as Packer is a lot of fun, but it lacks the intimidating presence you expect of the big man. Carlton’s work here is similar to Felix Williamson’s Paul Keating in Hawke, it hit a lot of the right notes and got the look down pat but both those characters have an X factor that neither actor nails. The rest of the cast aren’t nearly as memorable as these two, with most of Ita’s staff getting a single title card listing their name and position and then fading into the background.

The two staff members we do spend time with are the long haired Andrew Cowell (Ian Meadows) whose persistence convinces Ita to bring him on board as Art Director, and Ita’s secretary Leslie Carpenter (Jessica Tovey) who may be based on a real person but felt more like a surrogate for Cleo’s readership at the time. Leslie’s relationship issues are the weakest part of the series, as she leaps from boring sex with bogan Muz to flirting with charismatic lawyer Mr. Ritchie (Matt Day). Leslie lacks much of a personality and the show grinds to a halt whenever we watch the effects of the magazine content wash over her (She just wants to know how to break up with her dud boyfriend! She sneaks a sex toy home from the office! She wants to nail the right man too!)

Paper Giants is a briskly paced romp for most of its run as it name checks historical events (The Beatles breaking up, Gough Whitlam, troops pulling out of Vietnam), pumps up the soundtrack and tells us amusing and interesting titbits about the formation of Cleo. It’s especially strong whenever Keddie and Carlton are on-screen together as Buttrose and Packer, who’s back and forth is amusing even if every scene seems to end with Packer saying ‘my dad won’t like it but I’ll convince him!’ Unlike the boring side adventures of Secretary Carpenter and her newly discovered womanhood, Ita’s home life is a necessary evil. Her husband who leaves her may be dull, and scenes where her daughter asks “can a girl really be a doctor?” and Ita replies “you can be anything you want” may be trite but it’s important to have the context for Ita’s work life.

Stories about historical events we know the gist of (there’s a magazine called Cleo, it will be created) can fall into the trap of trying to ring tension out of moments we already know the outcome of. If Ita has to tell her staff that their dream of making Australian Cosmo is out the window, we can’t be too worried for them because the series is called The Birth Of Cleo. Luckily Paper Giants instead uses most of its ‘moments from history’ as a showcase for fun writing and a truly wonderful performance from Asher Keddie. Keddie keeps everything rolling along even if it the show’s story gets a bit fuzzy around the edges. Paper Giants isn’t perfect, but it’s a lot of fun and one of the most entertaining Australian dramas to have come along in a while.

Good, Alright, Bad Or Ugly?
Alright

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