hursto

People who pan this film miss the unique Australian-ness of it. The sad and sorry demographic represented by the two women is so realistically portrayed, so that while we almost depise Teesh for her slack layabout lifestyle, as she reluctantly reveals more about herself we cannot but help feeling stirrings of empathy. Susie Porter's performance is fine, and for that matter so is Linda Cropper's as the sad mother desperate to see her kids again but so caught up in a loser's lifestyle that she can hardly surface for air.

This film is a little gem that grows on the viewer and shouldn't be dismissed.

This films captures the all-encompassing breadth of family life from love to brutality, and displays it in a no-punches way that touches the heart strings. As the four children return to share their dying mother's last weeks we see the old family conflicts, rivalries and tensions flare, as each struggles to gain a special relationship with their dying mother, played whimsically by Jeanie Drynan. The bad language may upset some prudes, but is all in the spirit of the movie. Russell Dykstra's winning perfomance as ex-con biker son Bo is one of the best I've seen for years. Sacher Horler is proving to be a major Australian talent. How nice to see a selection of females that aren't wafer thin!!

I needed to read all the other reviews here before I was game to make a comment. I'm a great fan of Lynch's Wild at Heart having seen it four times, and recently loved Lost Highway. But this one left me baffled. I'd heard of it for years, but can make little sense of it. It certainly didn't bore me, in fact I was fascinated to see where the plot led. Tried to analyse it in terms of symbolism, but decided that if I have to do that the film isn't really speaking to me. The dark broodiness is impressive, the squishiness repulsive, and Henry's hairdo is unforgettable!