Flirting

This is Nicole Kidman's first major film role, and she is remarkable. The way she develops her character really has you going. I won't say more except that you'll love her. Taylor and Newton do a fantastic job in their coming-of-age roles. Newton is absolutely beautiful -- I fell in love.

The screenplay has excellent depth and is uproariously funny in parts, enraging, tender and even tear-jerking. It even has an underlying theme with incisive international political insights into events in Africa during the Sixties. Agree with the politics or not, it has a lot to say -- really a thinking man's film.

Some guys may dismiss it as a chick flick, but if so, it's one of the best I've seen. What may surprise many is that it even has one of the best boxing scenes I have witnessed on celluloid. Yes, the story is Kafkaesque in a way, but it is also terribly sweet. Taylor's lead role (Danny) is one of the most original I've seen on film -- the school nerd who is really a poet with more character than the rest of the school combined (including the staff). The entire film is his recollection of events, much of it narrated by him as though he'd written the screenplay.

When I saw it a couple of years ago, I wondered where it had been all my life. This is a must- see hidden jewel like Denzel Washington's "Mississippi Masala." It may not be as hot as MM, but it comes damned close in parts.

(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon.)

Don't let the title fool you. Although this is one of the sweetest movies you'll ever see, it is no beach blanket bingo for bimbos. This is an Aussie story of teen love set in 1965, heroic as only teens can play it. It is fun to watch, authentic and original at the same time, a coming of age flick in the English boarding school tradition of "Dead Poet's Society" (1989) and "A Separate Peace" (the novel, not the so-so movie). Noah Taylor stars as Danny Embling, an outsider who reads Sartre and Camus while satirizing the school's empty traditions. Across the lake is the girl's school where Thandiwe Adjewa (Thandie Newton), daughter of the Ugandan ambassador, is learning to meld with the Aussie pale faces, including a gifted pre-Hollywood Nicole Kidman.

Thandie Newton and Noah Taylor, as beautifully directed by John Duigan, are the reasons this film is so good. She has a fearless integrity about her that overcomes the prejudices of her school mates. He is wise and brave at a hundred and twenty pounds. She too is ultra sophisticated. She even met Sartre. This is a story about the love between two outsiders who, with their strength of character win over not only their classmates, but the audience as well. Imagine teenagers as witty and poised as say Eartha Kitt and Gore Vidal, and you get a hint of how it's played.

Nicole Kidman as the snobby Nicola Radcliffe (the name says it all) manages a subtle supporting role with a diamond-in-the-rough kind of charm and just the right touch of on-screen growth. The scene where she shares her stash of vodka (or perhaps a clear fruit liquor) with Thandiwe Adjewa is beautifully turned by Director John Duigan. Also excellent is the hotel scene where the adults are revealed as intrusive in the extreme. I like Danny Embling's line as he deadpans to a re-robing Thandiwe, "They're all funny, aren't they?" Yes, those adults are a little peculiar.

This is not unflawed, however. The ending, despite the rousing music, seemed a bland washout, leaving us with a sense of disappointment. And I thought the first love scene with the two "touching" was a little unreal. I mean he might have kissed her! There's a limit to how great a coming of age, boarding school movie can be, especially when the adults have only scarecrow parts. Nonetheless "Flirting" is a confectioner's delight, and one of the best coming of age movies I've ever seen.

I absolutely loved this film. This is the best of all the adolescent/coming of age/high school genre films. Set in the mid 1960's Australia at an all boys school (St.Albans....across the river from the all girls school). Our protagonist is a sympathic yet strong/intelligent character. He is constantly picked on by his peers (mild stuttering, intellectual, a bit different), but he takes everything in stride with the viewpoint that he's "offering them a service", "people need to put down others to feel better about themselves" (great line and greatly written throughout.). His eventual love is a new student at the girls school, she is from Uganda (British educated) and is different enough to be a target of ridicule from her peers. They both find each other despite the prison camp like conditions of their respective schools. The story is great, the writing is poetic, and the acting is superb. I can't believe I didn't hear of it when released. I found it in a local Library video department. The only thing I didn't like about the film is the title....."Flirting" just doesn't do this film justice. I came away from this film with a great appreciation for the writing and directing of John Duigan... though I haven't come across anything from him recently as good. Noah Taylor is an amazing actor... I would like to see more of this actor... in better films. I also thought the whole cast in Flirting were perfect.

Those who've watched The Wonder Years will recognise the style of storytelling here. The main character is also the narrator, there's an ongoing reference to world events, there are adolescents growing into maturity, and there are some wonderfully rounded and recognisable individuals.

Both main characters experience discrimination, including in Thandie Newton's case, racial discrimination both overt and implied - e.g. an Australian lad says to her "Your English is very good", to which she responds "So is yours"!

On the surface it's just a coming-of-age school story, but the film continually rises above this to greater heights of poignancy and subtlety.

Nicole Kidman is brilliant in the difficult role of the head of school who apparently has it all until, in one of the most moving moments of the film, her true self is revealed.

I enjoyed this movie. I particularly liked the way they referred to Camus and Sartre in such offhand ways. I think this is the type of move that you must see again and again to get the full impact. I plan to see it a few more times to soak in all the nuances of the plot and character formation.