PAWNO **

Minor, small-scale but really rather likable tragic-comic ensemble piece from Australia, "Pawno", as its title suggests, revolves around a day in the life of a pawnbroker's shop in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray, focusing not just on the two guys who work there but on their customers and neighbors as well. It's a little too lightweight to make a major impact but it's well written, (by Damian Hill who also plays the pawnbroker's assistant and who died tragically young a few months ago), and pleasingly acted by everyone. The director is Paul Ireland who, with more substantial material, could go far.