Rest for the Wicked: commences principal photography

Tony Barry is to star in the upcoming detective comedy Rest for the Wicked, now shooting until November 20 in Auckland.
 
Last month, Barry won the Best Actor trophy in the Qantas New Zealand Film Awards for his role as Ed in Gaylene Preston’s Home By Christmas, which was selected for the World Cinema Section of the London Film Festival. He has also been nominated for best actor at the Asia Pacific Screen Awards to be presented on December 2.
 
In Rest for the Wicked Barry will play Murray, an ex-cop compelled to come out of retirement for one last case when he finds out his old nemesis, Frank (John Bach) is now in the Knightsbridge Gardens Retirement Village. In order to catch his man, Murray goes undercover, discovering a world of sex, drugs and rocking chairs where life is lived and being old doesn’t mean feeling past it.
 
Tony Barry and John Bach worked together on Geoff Murphy’s iconic Goodbye Pork Pie, still a New Zealand favourite. Bach recently starred as Harry Sheridan in the TV One ratings hit This is Not My Life.
 
Rest for the Wicked’s cast also includes many of New Zealand’s greatest senior actors: Ian Mune, Elizabeth McRae, Bruce Allpress, Irene Woods, Ilona Rodgers, Teresa Woodham and Ken Blackburn.
 
Knightsbridge Retirement Village is played by Remuera Gardens Retirement Village, chosen for its picturesque setting.
 
Funded by NZ Film Commission and private equity, Rest for the Wicked is a first feature for director Simon Pattison, who has a background in TV commercials and arts documentaries (Valveman). He devised the concept with Nick Ward (Stickmen, Second Hand Wedding). The script is by Bob Moore, advertising copywriter and author.
 
Producer is Maile Daugherty (line producer Insatiable Moon; VFX producer, Matariki, The Tattooist); director of photography Jos Wheeler, who has an extensive background in short film, music video and documentary; production designer is Shayne Radford (Boy, Rain of the Children); and editor is Paul Maxwell (Sione’s Wedding, Rain).
 
Rest for the Wicked international sales are handled by NZ Film and it has been picked up for New Zealand distribution by Gordon Adam of Metropolis Film, whose recent successful releases include Home By Christmas and Second-Hand Wedding.