No. 2

"New Zealand playwright Toa Fraser makes a smooth transition to the screen directing "No. 2," an adaptation of his 2000 stage work. This warmly observed drama about a Fijian-Kiwi matriarch gathering her discordant clan around one last fete is formulaic at its core: One can guess grandma's fate from the start, but only after, all wounds have been healed and every narrative string tied. Still, assured handling and an appealing cast make this a deserving crowd-pleaser (it won the dramatic World Cinema audience award at Sundance) that should find friendly theatrical and tube berth in numerous terrains. Title, however -- which in the U.S. is scatalogical slang may have to ."

"As a New Zealand film it's unconventional in its setting, in its subject, in its origins. You don't get too many local films set in in Mt Roskill, films about families, or by New Zealand playwrights adapting their own works for the screen.<br /><br />Director-writer Toa Fraser's utterly charming No. 2 does conform to one New Zealand film convention though - the European girlfriend. Braindead had one (the Spanish senorita from the dairy). So did Whale Rider (Cliff Curtis' character returns to the East Coast with German fraulein in tow)..."

"Here is yet another one of those films about a family get-together that leads to arguing and disaster. Based on his play, Toa Fraser brings 'No. 2' to the screen in an uncompromising fashion. Suffering from a formulaic story, ridden with cliches, the film has enough remarkable performances to make up for where it lacks. Not entirely, though.<br /><br />Nanna Maria (Rudy Dee in another firecracker of a performance) can sense her death coming. Living in a house with some of her grandchildren, she orders them to sponsor a big party and feast, with only all her grandchildren allowed to attend. Her reasoning for this celebration is so that she may name her heir for when she is gone..."