While it does not match up against recent raunchy comedies it clearly takes influence from, A Few Best Men surprises with its cheeky spirit and an interesting role reversal of cultures.

Reaching far back into the Barry McKenzie days of Australian comedy, the rules of stereotype always portrayed the British as stiff upper lip ponces and Australian’s as feral by-products of little charm. A Few Best Men does not follow that rule.

Written by Death at a Funeral scribe Dean Craig and directed by Priscilla: Queen of the Desert filmmaker Stephen Elliott (his first Australian film in 15 years), A Few Best Men follows the nuptials of orphan London boy David (Xavier Samuel) and affluent Aussie girl Mia (Laura Brent) at her father’s lush estate situated in the Blue Mountains (think of it as a posh version of the outback).

What David didn’t bet on was his three best friends (Kris Marshall, Kevin Bishop, Tim Draxl) reigning havoc on his wedding day. Cocaine is snorted, gimp masks worn, emotionally fragile drug dealers wield shotguns, and a prize winning sheep named “Ramsey” is defiled worse than a cold night in a New Zealand barn. (Australasian ribbing there folks. No sheep’s were harmed during this review).

What Craig and Elliott were aiming for in A Few Best Men was a mix of the disaster comedy set pieces of Death at a Funeral and the raunchy camaraderie of The Hangover, but with an Aussie twist. For the most part they pull it off with nicely staged comedic sequences hitting the mark with its madcap brand of potty humour.

It’s the spirited performances that make A Few Best Men work. Marshall and Bishop are unrelenting as the instigators of many of these shenanigans, almost to the point that you’d wish Samuel will kick them in the balls for turning his wedding into a circus (a move that would suit the tone of the film). Then there is the stunt casting of Olivia Newton-John as the cocaine snorting mother in law, a move so far away from her good-girl turned wise-woman image that it works.

A highlight of A Few Best Men is a wedding speech delivered by Bishop. Every wedding movie needs one and in the words of one character “it’s a corker!” Rude, embarrassing, outstays its welcome, with Bishop doing his rambling best with Columbian white powder all over his nose and a picture of “titis!” in his hand.

If by that point in the film you are not laughing, A Few Best Men is not the film for you. For the rest of us giggling silly, enjoy this wedding from Hell.