Peaches

In a climate of poorly performing Australian feature films this offering did not prove to be any different.At a writers conference the screenwriter, when asked what the premise of the movie was, couldn't clearly articulate it. She mumbled something about "moving on" and "accepting loss"...say no more. The ideas were great but the script lacked a powerful driving narrative line. There was no clear protag and no "big idea" which feature films seem to require to keep the audience awake for two hours.

And as for the casting....if you want to get away with a 40 something man shagging a 16 year old girl then the actor needs to be ATTRACTIVE!! Hugo Weaving??...pulleeeeze!

This story is beautifully acted. It is both sad and heartwarming about a young girl's journey to discover where she has come from and where she is going. Stephanie was adopted by her mother's best friend after her mother and father were killed in a car crash, and ever since she has been labeled the 'miracle baby', she is dyslexic and is finding life a bit tough. Her findings along the way affect those closest around her. Her relationship with her guardian and her guardian's ex boyfriend are handled very delicately and sensitively, and the whole of the supporting cast are genuine, 3 dimensional and believable. Set around a peach canning factory in small town Australia, this is a warm gentle, erotic film, and leaves you with a pleasant feeling when the credits close. After reading some of the other rather shallow comments about Hugo Weaving, I would like to add that I think he was brilliantly cast, and was extremely sexy. No, he is not Brad Pitt, but that doesn't mean that he isn't attractive.

How you could say that Peaches, with its complex narrative dealing with a multitude of issues, is "a small TV idea" is beyond me. Besides I can think of many films that have "a small TV idea" in their plots. Your obvious dislike of the TV industry (" Sue Smith has failed to rise above her television background") is confusing. particularly as you are having such "a great time" working in TV. If only we could all be so talented as Ms Smith (no, I am not a friend or relative) - AFI award winning Brides of Christ, Road from Coorain,etc. All made for TV. Come to think of it, what about those other "small TV ideas" like "Against the Wind", "Bodyline", "The Dismissal", "Scales of Justice", "Blue Murder", "Water under the Bridge" ,etc. I think Peaches is a good entertaining film which had me interested, and most of my friends as well, from start to finish. It is far from flawless yet I think it is among the best Australian films I have seen over the last couple of years. Who knows, with a few more viewings (there's so much to think about), it might just be up there with classics like "The Year My Voice Broke", "The Devil's Playground". I really did enjoy this film much more than "Somersault" and "Three Dollars". These films, I think, had their moments-surreal, atmospheric, realistic and dealing with important contemporary issues, but as for sheer entertainment for mr.and mrs average movie goer and me, it was very ordinary if not boring. When I go to a movie, I am always conscious of the audience's reaction to a film (through in- cinemas reactions and overheard conversations in the foyer and loo). Some came out of Peaches shaking their heads, some with negative criticisms, but many seemed to have enjoyed the experience.

Let me be the first non Australian to comment on this :) I got the movie for Hugo Weaving and I watched it to the end. It's one of those "drama of life" films, as my mother used to call a movie that depicts a real life story with no extraordinary events and that is mostly descriptive.

I liked the light and the girls. The rest was without too much fault, but without too much merit either. I yearned for something like The Interview, or at least some matrix villain element here and there, but nothing out of the ordinary. The story does teach one about facing one's own destiny and break free from the environment others build for you, but this happens when the life giving peach factory in the area is about to close, so not much of an effort to change things is required.

The "smart" American Beauty sound-alike song in the background could have been part of a larger soundtrack, but just that one playing over and over again became annoying after 100 minutes of film.

In the end, I guess it did his job of presenting a part of Australian life, but to me it didn't seem specifically Australian (it could have been placed anywhere) and it didn't seem attractive as a story.

I guess one must be in a certain mood to like the movie.

I sat through an hour and half of sheer cinematic enjoyment yesterday afternoon as my wife and I watched the unfolding drama of people as they pass through the vicissitudes of life. Smith's writing painted a perfect tableau for a wonderful display of acting skills from all of the actors with special mention going to Emma Lung for her skillful portrayal of the principle character as that young woman traverses the minefield we call early adulthood. In my opinion, there is drama enough in life's path-it is not necessary to repeat the silliness of Hollywood by exploding the screen with car crashes and blood spattered body bags in order to tell a film story. One need only remember the beauty of the French film "Etre et Avoir" to see the extraordinary beauty of the simplest of human dramas.

I loved the softly, softly approach that Monahan pulled from his three leads-Weaving, McKenzie and Lung. The beauty of their acting, blended with the landscape into which the story was set left this viewer totally enchanted. If we can continue to make films of this caliber our industry, although temporarily passing through the doldrums, will emerge stronger and more vibrant. I anticipate watching every film our local cinemas screen.

I am writing this on August 16, '08 after again being entranced by this wonderful film on television last night. If anything, I was even more impressed with Peaches than I had been four years earlier when Diane and I first viewed it.

Growing up as I did in a small town not dissimilar to the location of the movie, I have huge empathy for people in small towns and the trap they must feel because of their situation: that situation the result of too early pregnancy; failure to pursue education beyond the town; fear of the unknown; lack of imagination or misplaced loyalty to loved ones (who in most instances would rather see their kids fly and lead their own lives.) The extraordinary beauty of Peaches was its ability to examine this issue of "leaving or staying" in such a gentle, dare I say loving sort of way.

A brilliant film to be sought out and treasured; a classic!