The Big Steal is a 1990 Australian teen comedy film set in Melbourne, Australia directed by Nadia Tass starring Ben Mendelsohn, Claudia Karvan and Steve Bisley. David Parker was the scriptwriter and cinematographer. The film went on to win three Australian Film Institute awards. Plot Ben Mendelsohn plays 18 year-old Danny Clark in Footscray, Melbourne, a young man who is looking to increase his cool factor in order to secure the affections of Joanna, played by Claudia Karvan. Danny offers to take Joanna out for a ride in a Jaguar as a way to impress her, but his actual vehicle is a 1963 Nissan Cedric which Danny knows is not 'cool'. In need of a Jaguar in a hurry, Danny decides to trade the Nissan Cedric for a more impressive vehicle. Gordon Farkas, a crooked used car salesman played by Steve Bisley, tricks Danny into buying a 1973 Jaguar XJ6. The Jaguar engine, true to form, blows up. After a confrontation which culminates with Joanna leaving Danny, an investigation of the engine reveals it's been swapped by Gordon Farkas. Danny sets about seeking justice and winning back Joanna's affections. Daniel and friends trick Gordon while his car is parked in a multi storey car park, and put the Cedric's engine in Gordon's Jaguar. Gordon, drunk, drives off without realising. He is arrested for going through a red light and for being drunk. Danny now has a perfect 4.2 l Jaguar to impress Joanna, which he does briefly when her parents are away for the weekend, until they return and surprise them and Danny flees. Everything unravels when Gordon mistakenly believes that Joanna's father has stolen his Jaguar engine and steals that car in error, defacing it, later getting his comeuppance. Various car chases result in Gordon failing to catch Danny, and a postscript shows Gordon serving 5 years in Pentridge prison for 37 Motor Traders Act offences, Danny and Joanna getting married later that year, and his friends in their ideal jobs in computing and car sales. Cast Ben Mendelsohn as Danny Clark Claudia Karvan as Joanna Johnson Steve Bisley as Gordon Farkas Marshall Napier as Desmond Clark Damon Herriman as Mark Jorgensen Angelo D'Angelo as Vangeli Petrakis Tim Robertson as Desmond Johnson Maggie King as Edith Clark Sheryl Munks as Pam Schaeffer Lise Rodgers as Mrs. Johnson Frankie J. Holden as Frank Mark Hennessy as Jimmy Roy Edmunds as