Valentine's Day

Ben Valentine is an Aussie Rules legend who finds himself before the beak in a small country town called Rushworth in Victoria, Australia. Like most country towns in Australia, the population is football mad. The fortunes of the local team are crucial to the status and self confidence of the district. Unfortunately, all the glories of Rushworth's team are in the past and they are on the brink of being merged with a local town, their most hated rivals. As a resident of a small country village, this all rings true to me. Ben is offered a sentence in gaol or community service as the coach of the local footy team. The team has to win three of its next four games to avoid oblivion. The ending is predictable but there are some nice twists. The cast is excellent. There are a couple of mildly interesting sub-plots. The growth of the pie business that mirrors the rise of the footy team is a classic. There are some very funny lines, possibly more obvious to country people. A knowledge of Aussie Rules football would be a little help but the film is likely to appeal more to people who follow the game.

I liked this made for TV Movie. I was encouraged to write this commentary after seeing that the voting for this movie was very low (2.4 I think).

I cannot talk for anyone else but I thought it was a very entertaining movie made for Aussie TV with fine Aussie actors on board.

It is worth noting , and this is for Aussie viewers only, because in other places you don'd understand the situation with our national network, it is good to see ABC (Australia) making good Aussie drama and you can put this one in that category.

Rhys Muldoon impressed with his performance as the mysterious drifter who arrives in town and is forced to stay and work out his penalty. During the time of his stay he has this affect on the township which culminates with the satisfactory conclusion.

I don't care if this storyline has been done before, my point is it hasn't been done before in this sleepy and lazy old Victorian township who is struggling for survival and is helped out by this visitor.

Very enjoyable and another good one for ABC Drama Australia.

Keep it up.

Every so often (but not often enough these days) a movie comes along which leaves an indelible print, not only in your mind but also in your heart and Valentine's Days is one of those movies.

I am not going to give anything away as knowing little about this film, before viewing it, was a definite plus. If you really want to know about it then read the plot synopsis.

My idea of a great movie is one that makes you feel. Valentine's Day made me laugh, cheer, cry and ultimately melted my heart. It makes you wish you lived in a small country town that has a great sense of community and team spirit.

Some say it is predictable and yes it may very well be but you know, who cares. You find yourself totally involved with these wonderful characters and it makes you wish that your only worry in life was whether you were going to win your next football game (although some may say thats its not THAT simple to win a footy game!).

In summary, please watch this movie and let it remind you of the important things in life - friends, family, community, love (pick whatever order you like as we all have differing priorities) but best of all, find that feeling inside you that you may of lost along life's way - heart.