A nightclub owner tries to escape financial collapse by growing dope, but the plan entangles him with crooked police and a ruthless moneylender.
Story Structure — 4 Plot Phases
A Club Under Pressure
Blade runs a nightclub in early 1980s Australia. Random breath testing changes customer behavior, weakens alcohol sales, and threatens his livelihood.
Key Events
Early 1980s Australia — The story is set in early 1980s Australia. Characters: BladeLocation: Australia
Nightclub Business — Blade operates a larrikin nightclub and sells alcohol. Characters: BladeLocation: Blade's nightclub
Blade and His Girlfriend — Blade is connected to the nightclub through his barmaid girlfriend. Characters: BladeLocation: Blade's nightclub
Breath Testing Begins — Random breath testing has been introduced two months earlier. Characters: BladeLocation: Australia
Customers Stop Driving — Customers avoid buying alcohol because they fear driving under the influence. Characters: BladeLocation: Blade's nightclub
Business Declines — The nightclub's alcohol sales decline after breath testing begins. Characters: BladeLocation: Blade's nightclub
The Carpark Economy
Customers avoid buying grog because they fear driving under the influence. Instead, they go to the carpark to smoke dope, worsening Blade's financial decline.
Key Events
Business Declines — The nightclub's alcohol sales decline after breath testing begins. Characters: BladeLocation: Blade's nightclub
Dope in the Carpark — Customers go to the carpark to smoke dope instead of buying grog. Characters: BladeLocation: Nightclub carpark
Blade Faces Bankruptcy — Blade realizes that the declining trade is driving him broke. Characters: BladeLocation: Blade's nightclub
A Business Strategy — Blade decides that he needs a strategy to escape his financial problem. Characters: BladeLocation: Blade's nightclub
Growing Dope — Blade chooses growing dope as a way out of his financial hole. Characters: BladeLocation: Blade's nightclub
A Risky Business Solution
Blade realizes he is going broke and decides he needs a new strategy. He chooses to grow dope as a way out of his financial hole.
Key Events
A Business Strategy — Blade decides that he needs a strategy to escape his financial problem. Characters: BladeLocation: Blade's nightclub
Growing Dope — Blade chooses growing dope as a way out of his financial hole. Characters: BladeLocation: Blade's nightclub
The Crop Plan — The proposed solution shifts Blade's business effort toward a crop. Characters: BladeLocation: Australia
Rural Property Chosen — The crop is to be grown on property owned by his girlfriend's father. Characters: BladeLocation: Girlfriend's father's property
Crop Cultivation Begins — Blade begins the plan to grow a crop on the property. Characters: BladeLocation: Girlfriend's father's property
The Crop Becomes a Trap
The crop is planned for property owned by Blade's girlfriend's father. The plan soon catches Blade in a bind involving crooked cops and a ruthless moneylender.
Key Events
Crop Cultivation Begins — Blade begins the plan to grow a crop on the property. Characters: BladeLocation: Girlfriend's father's property
The Plan Unravels — The cultivation plan soon places Blade in a dangerous bind. Characters: BladeLocation: Girlfriend's father's property
Crooked Police Pressure — Crooked cops become one side of the pressure surrounding the crop. Characters: BladeLocation: Girlfriend's father's property
Moneylender Appears — A ruthless moneylender becomes another force threatening Blade's situation. Characters: BladeLocation: Australia
Pressure Closes In — Blade is caught between crooked police and a ruthless moneylender. Characters: BladeLocation: Girlfriend's father's property
Financial Escape Blocked — The crop no longer offers a simple escape from Blade's financial hole. Characters: BladeLocation: Girlfriend's father's property
Criminal Bind Intensifies — The competing pressures turn Blade's business strategy into a criminal bind. Characters: BladeLocation: Girlfriend's father's property
Blade's Predicament — Blade's attempt to recover financially leaves him trapped between dangerous forces. Characters: BladeLocation: Australia
Story Breakdown
Australian Nightclub Setting — The story begins in early 1980s Australia around Blade's nightclub business.
Early 1980s Australia — The film is explicitly set in Australia during the early 1980s.
Blade Runs Club — Blade is presented as a larrikin nightclub owner.
Breath Testing Disruption — New random breath testing changes how customers behave and damages alcohol sales.
New Testing Rules — Random breath testing has been introduced two months before the central crisis.
Fear Of Driving — Customers avoid buying alcohol because they fear driving under the influence.
Carpark Dope Culture — Customers replace drinking at the nightclub with smoking dope in the carpark.
Grog Sales Fall — The nightclub loses alcohol business as customers stop buying grog.
Customers Smoke Outside — Customers go to the carpark to smoke dope instead.
Going Broke — Blade realizes that his nightclub business is failing financially.
Need For Strategy — Blade decides that escaping the financial hole requires a new strategy.
The Crop Strategy — Blade selects dope cultivation as his proposed solution to the financial crisis.
Grow Dope — Blade decides to grow dope as a way out of his financial hole.
Property Arrangement — The crop is planned for property owned by his girlfriend's father.
Criminal Pressure — The crop plan creates a dangerous situation involving two threatening forces.
Crooked Police — Crooked cops become involved in the bind surrounding the crop.
Ruthless Moneylender — A ruthless moneylender adds another source of pressure to Blade's predicament.
The Dangerous Bind — Blade's attempted financial recovery turns into a conflict between criminal pressures.
Plan Turns Risky — The cultivation plan soon catches Blade in a bind.
No Simple Escape — The proposed crop solution leaves Blade trapped between crooked cops and the moneylender.
The Crop, set in the early '80s, is about a larrikin nightclub owner, Ronnie (Blade) Gillette, and his barmaid girlfriend Geraldine. Two months after random breath testing has been introduced, Blade realises he's going broke. Afraid of driving under the influence, his customers are not buying his grog-they're going out to the carpark to smoke dope. Like any good businessman, Blade decides he needs a strategy. He decides to grow some dope as a way out of his financial hole. Diversify and expand-beauty!
