Charlie & Boots

Well, if you can get to see this little known Aussie movie I suggest you do, it's not 'earth shattering' it's not 'Hollywood' (thank god!) but I for one found it to be a well made, mostly very funny, entertaining and a sometimes poignant hour thirty!.

Dad/Son road trip movies are not that common, thankfully the chemistry shown on screen by the ever excellent (but hardly seen) one liner master, Paul Hogan and of course the always likable Shane Jacobson ('Kenny') produce some truly classic moments, no spoilers here but they are 'LOL' funny together and when the mood requires, somber together.

It's a hoot, not sure why some 'reviewers' have such a downer on it? oh, Morgan Griffin as Jess was ripper mate!!!

See it if you can.

A little surprised to see the rating out of 47 people fairly high. (do we get paid for this?) I'd also like to understand why there are 47 votes and only 2 comments? hmm. For me the movie started quite well since I enjoyed both P Hogan and had a ball at "Kenny" So I went with the story, Dad is depressed at the loss of his wife and Sonny takes the opportunity to rekindle things with dad, so "kidnaps" him for a trip to Cape York that was once something they were going to do as a "father and son's special". So far so good and even a kind of good things to expect in the horizon. But the horizon turns out to be not so great, with some recycled jokes and cheap gags that managed though to get a laugh or two from some of us. My audience was not as generous as the one previously mentioned, some twenty "over the hill" retirees passing through a rather wet "Forster" on the East coast of NSW Autralia. Yes this did not help. I'm surprised that it fell apart this way as I felt that there was some good ingredients in it to develop a reasonable story. But if you are going to give it a go, it won't kill you and whilst you're at it if you're a fan of Hogan watch it till the end of the credit, you should get another smile.

I saw this film on a Qantas flight to Sydney last week. It was about a grown-up son's (Shane Jacobson) efforts to re-establish bonds with his dad Charlie (Paul Hogan) after the unexpected death of his mother. To do this, he brings his dad on a long road trip in order to fulfill a long-time promise to fish at the northern tip of Australia's west coast.

We have seen plenty of this prodigal son stories, as well as road trips, so the unique quality here for me is the Australian background and characters. It is only OK for me. The actors are both very good. I have not seen Paul Hogan since "Crocodile Dundee" and here he is as an elderly cantankerous dad. It was just so apparent that the two actors could never be father and son in real life because of they do not look a bit alike.

The best parts of the film were those with young hitch-hiker Jess charmingly played by Morgan Griffin. She is a welcome (and pretty) addition to their road trip. Too bad her screen time is not longer than it was.

If you are wanting an easy, enjoyable, Aussie road trip movie, spend 2 hours with Charlie & Boots. The movie moves along at a nice pace, has tender moments and plenty of laugh out loud moments. It also has some beautiful scenery and cinematography.

Don't go into it expecting any kind of Hollywood movie, it is a true Australian movie, understated, funny and overall very entertaining. Most Australians will be able to relate to something throughout this movie..

We were very pleasantly surprised and glad we watched it.

Keep watching until the credits end.

Found this an excellent film very moving in the first 15 mins with excellent acting, so much so it took me a while to recognise Paul Hogan, however it quickly changes into a laugh a minute with charming performances from all the characters, spot the Aussie soap face was well played here and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience, I watched it coming home from a magical Oz holiday and it was fun to see many of the sights we had experienced in this road trip film. I was told off by my hubby for laughing to loud whilst watching this with headphones on and soon it was me telling him off when he joined me in watching it!! Fantastic film and great all round entertainment, watch out for the tow car cop scene it's a beauty.