- Actors: Russell Crowe, Jack Thompson
- Format: NTSC
- Language: English, French
- Studio: Behaviour Distrib.
- Release Date: May 29 2003
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
- ASIN: B000065R13
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #57,733 in DVD (See Top 100 in DVD)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon.com
Australia has no shortage of he-man actors. Tops on anybody's list would be Russell Crowe and bluff, burly Jack Thompson, neither of whom looks completely at ease without a pint of lager in his hand. Thus it's a brilliant touch to cast them together in a gay comedy--Crowe as an uncloseted young man looking for love, Thompson as his open-minded straight father, who's so eager to help his son find Mr. Right, he's actually a bit of an annoyance. The 1995 movie betrays its stage origins, especially when the characters turn to the camera to deliver conversational asides. And the one-joke premise of Thompson's unflagging enthusiasm for his son's sex life becomes almost as tiresome for the viewer as it does for the son. But it's an innocuous enough little movie, and the two actors bring their gruff likability into every scene. In retrospect, Crowe's future stardom looks blindingly obvious. --Robert Horton
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
One to watch alone,
By
This review is from: Sum of Us (DVD)
This isn't a film to watch with company, as much of the dialogue is very rude and inappropriate, and it didn't need to be that way.Jack Thompson is enjoyable to watch (aside from what comes out of his mouth at times), and Russell Crowe does a good job, but the film lacks depth for much of it, then beats the viewer over the head with moments that are supposed to be emotionally charged. The bare bones of the film are good: a father who loves his son unconditionally and supports him and doesn't care if his son is gay or is purple with green polka dots; a son who loves his father and comes to realize he loves his father unconditionally as the son tries to keep up at work (he's a busy plumber) and walks the minefield of love. The problem is in the details. For example? The son's boyfriend lives a home life with his parents that seems extremely unbelievable (the boyfriend, for example, is always trying to pick a fight with his father while arguing his father is somehow against him) and the scenes are very poorly written, although I think the actors did the best they could with those awful scenes. The trouble is, the boyfriend, his parents, and everyone else in the entire film (aside from the characters of Crowe and Thompson) are 110% completely unlikeable. Also, the main characters split their time between talking to each other and talking directly to the camera, as though the camera was a character, but a half-witted character :-p This film could've been SO much better. The outdoor garden (park) scenes were nice tho, filmed near the Sydney Opera House, which can be seen as the camera pulls out/away at the very end. In case you love Aussie scenery like we do.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good movie,
By
This review is from: Sum of Us (DVD)
I caught this movie on television, years ago and it had tugged at my heartstring. It had been translated in French, so when I found it on Amazon, I bought it. Let's say I wasn't dissapointed to watch it again and will do again in the future. I have to, since the sound track isn't the best, with the Australian accent making it even harder to understand but I don't care! I like the story that made me smile if not down right laugh. It also jerk my emotions to see the father/son relationship. I've rarely seen that kind of attachement, the respect and the underlying love between a dad and his son. It does exist, because I've seen it in other family but never having lived it myself, you tend to envy others when you see it. Probably why I liked this film in the first place.Ghislain Desjardins
4.0 out of 5 stars
"Ashamed of Jeff? Never.",
By
This review is from: Sum of Us (DVD)
Twenty-something Jeff Mitchell (Russell Crowe) is a gay plumber and footie player who lives with his father, Harry (Jack Thompson). The two have a close and loving relationship and Dad is forever trying to fix Jeff up with nice men. Harry, a widower, misses being in love and tries a computer dating service for himself; the lady he meets seems just about perfect, until he tells her about his son.This is a very sweet father and son story, with Crowe and Thompson both convincing, sympathetic, and utterly likeable in their roles. Filmed in Sydney, the thick Aussie accents and slang may be a bit hard to understand at times, but they make the story seem very real and intimate. I would have given the film five stars (I did give it 3.5 stars) had it not been for the very annoying gimmick of having the actors break character and talk directly to the camera. This was especially distracting when the father, paralyzed and mute from a stroke, suddenly started moving and speaking normally. I gather this is a holdover from the stage play, but it definitely destroyed the continuity; each time an actor spoke to the audience, we were reminded that it's only acting and we had to start all over in our willing suspension of disbelief. It would have been so much better if they had just used voice-overs or, better yet, skipped the explanations altogether. Since no story lines are concluded, this is basically a slice-of-life drama, a peek into a life shared by father and son. The sight of Russell Crowe in footie shorts is reason enough to watch this movie; his many fans will enjoy seeing him before his pre-Hollywood days in this simple and lovely love story.
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