This was on local telly last night, and as I feel a little "patriotic obligation" with Aussie films, I gave it a go.
Within ten minutes I had put nearly every character neatly back in the "central casting" pigeonhole they'd been taken from and was mentally writing the rest of the movie in dot points. In the end, the trendy, tokenistic gay element was the only thing I missed.
As far as the characterisations and plot are concerned, there is nothing original in this film. That can be overlooked if it is executed well, but it wasn't. Fairly pedestrian, soapie-level stuff for the most part, with wall-to-wall white Aussies acting out a story seemingly cobbled together from old episodes of "Home and Away".
Cast-wise, the youngsters weren't too bad, in fact certainly promising as far as their ability to express a range of emotions. By contrast, Shane Jacobson proved beyond doubt that he is a rubbish actor, possibly one of the most overrated actors of the last few years. Watching him "cry" was one of the funniest things about this film. He's that unconvincing. Shane, stick to "comedies" where you just play yourself, won't you?
So why two stars? The younger cast members for one. Two, the surfing sequences are beautifully shot - and no, I'm not a surfie by any means.
Within ten minutes I had put nearly every character neatly back in the "central casting" pigeonhole they'd been taken from and was mentally writing the rest of the movie in dot points. In the end, the trendy, tokenistic gay element was the only thing I missed.
As far as the characterisations and plot are concerned, there is nothing original in this film. That can be overlooked if it is executed well, but it wasn't. Fairly pedestrian, soapie-level stuff for the most part, with wall-to-wall white Aussies acting out a story seemingly cobbled together from old episodes of "Home and Away".
Cast-wise, the youngsters weren't too bad, in fact certainly promising as far as their ability to express a range of emotions. By contrast, Shane Jacobson proved beyond doubt that he is a rubbish actor, possibly one of the most overrated actors of the last few years. Watching him "cry" was one of the funniest things about this film. He's that unconvincing. Shane, stick to "comedies" where you just play yourself, won't you?
So why two stars? The younger cast members for one. Two, the surfing sequences are beautifully shot - and no, I'm not a surfie by any means.