The Rooster

This is so much more than a mystery. It is a beautifully crafted story about friendship and Hugo Weaving deserves every award going around for an absolutely authentic performance (Phoenix Raie is brilliant too). The background of the story is a man dealing with depression but it is not a sad film - without giving anything away it turns all your expectations on their head. The script is perfect and sparing - at its heart it is a film about male communication, how hard it is and how kindness and trust are so important. I have never seen anything like it and have not stopped thinking about it since I saw it two nights ago.

In dark, bleak but quietly classy Aussie drama "The Rooster" the troubled psyche of rural cop Phoenix Raei plunges when brain-damaged pal Rhys Mitchell kills himself out in the remote woods. Spiralling towards his own suicide in those same woods Raei meets reclusive hermit Hugo Weaving, and the two forge an unlikely relationship... with details emerging of Mitchell's death - and Weaving's disturbing past. Avoiding cliché in his debut, writer / director Mark Leonard Winter delivers more of a moody character-study (requiring excellent performances, that his leads deliver) than a gripping thriller, which won't be for all - but folk who for example liked "Pig", should love this one.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film written and directed by Mark Leonard Winter. An amazing performance by Phoenix Raei and Hugo Weaving. The film touches on mental health issues as well as the loneliness that many people face. To me It inspired many emotions which change throughout the film. The policeman played by Phoenix. Raei was outstanding and highlighted the stresses and mental issues that some police officer may be subject too. Hugo Weaving's performance was brilliant. I loved the film setting and the cinematography. The sound editing was amazing with a special mention to the excellent work by the foley artist whose work was outstanding.

A tough one to review because you know it's not going to be a box office hit.

Watching it, though, I was thinking how long it had been since I'd seen a real character piece. You know, I mean something that wasn't just quirky or dark or subverting expectations. This was a character piece of old. This was staring into the abyss (this is a Wall Street reference). It's a tale for those who've walked with the black dog, been at society's fringe, and/or at some time been a pariah of the community - not a pillar.

I hate to say that it's probably a men's film because I'd surely not want to discourage the inquisitive minds of the fairer sex from having a look. Nor would I want to restrict the universal themes of the movie to a select audience.

Did not have overly high expectations of this one, but 15 minutes into it, I found it to be quite moving, and was looking forward to it continuing in that vein. But the next 45 minutes ( I gave up at the hour point) just left me confused, bored, semi depressed, and struggling to make sense of the two men's behaviours? There have seemed to have been a rash of 'men in crises' films these past few years, some good (Whale) some not so good (Beau is afraid), with Rooster falling into the not so good category IMO.

Production values are good, with atmospheric visuals and soundtrack, editing is neat and tidy, apart from a couple of jarring scene transitions.

There are only two main characters, one likeable the other not, but ultimately ( well, up to 60 minutes) I found I did not care what happened to either of them, even though their unremarkable back stories were explained (in unremarkable ways).

Maybe the final 40 minutes makes it all make satisfying sense? I will likely never know.