How to Make Gravy review – a well-intentioned, mawkish misfire

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This soupy Christmas drama based on Paul Kelly’s song tips into corny sentimentalism – and comes dangerously close to suggesting that gravy is actually magic

How to Make Gravy is a rare example of a film that originated as a song – in this case, the beloved ballad by Paul Kelly. Maybe, given the entertainment industry’s addiction to recycling pre-existing IP, transforming popular tracks into movies will one day become a thing. Not that I’m looking forward to it: this soupy Christmas drama from first-time feature director Nick Waterman demonstrates how lyrics can become a series of reference points, with an obvious temptation to be very visual and literal – to give us that shot of a gravy boat being passed reverentially around the dinner table.

Waterman deploys the gravy early in the runtime, staging it as a moment of quasi-religious significance. This is not a subtle film – some scenes made my face react not like I’d consumed a delicious, nourishing sauce (infused with a dollop of tomato sauce for sweetness and that extra tang) but like I’d wolfed down a brick-sized block of artery-clogging cheese.

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