I liked this film. It was nice. I think that Noni Hazelhurst was the knock out performance. Absolutely spot on as the suburban single mum.
Unfortunately, Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving and Martin Henderson were not so good. The most irritating thing about this film was the accent/dialect. These three were meant to be average suburbanite (west, southwest Sydney) junkie/exjunkie unemployed types. They talked like middle class professionals. I think that it is unforgivable for an actress of Cate's stature to get it so wrong. And of these three, she was the worst offender.
The dialect of 'lower' class southwest Sydneysiders is quite distinctive, both in its sound and vocabulary. For someone who grew up in the area, and has been around these people for most of their life, it was too distracting.
There is so much potential in this underground world which was not explored. How did she become hooked? Where are the street dealers, the other junkies? It did however deal with the problems of coming off junk quite well.
The ending felt a bit too neat. Far neater than real life.
But it was a good story with a beginning, an end and a middle. One of the better Australian films of recent years.
I highly recommend it to those looking to broaden their horizons, who are sick of the east coast west coast American middle class white 'beige' films that dominate todays theatres.
Two and a half thumbs
Unfortunately, Cate Blanchett, Hugo Weaving and Martin Henderson were not so good. The most irritating thing about this film was the accent/dialect. These three were meant to be average suburbanite (west, southwest Sydney) junkie/exjunkie unemployed types. They talked like middle class professionals. I think that it is unforgivable for an actress of Cate's stature to get it so wrong. And of these three, she was the worst offender.
The dialect of 'lower' class southwest Sydneysiders is quite distinctive, both in its sound and vocabulary. For someone who grew up in the area, and has been around these people for most of their life, it was too distracting.
There is so much potential in this underground world which was not explored. How did she become hooked? Where are the street dealers, the other junkies? It did however deal with the problems of coming off junk quite well.
The ending felt a bit too neat. Far neater than real life.
But it was a good story with a beginning, an end and a middle. One of the better Australian films of recent years.
I highly recommend it to those looking to broaden their horizons, who are sick of the east coast west coast American middle class white 'beige' films that dominate todays theatres.
Two and a half thumbs