Down Under

When I heard that Abe had made a comedy about the Cronulla riots I was already laughing just from the concept, I was ready to tell all my mates to check it out before ever pressing play.... Sadly when I did press play that is when the laughing ended. At first I was expecting a slapstick/goofball comedy like Ned which was hilarious, that wasn't happening so I thought "Ok I guess it is a dark comedy, no problem". By 15 minutes in I was thinking "is this actually suppose to be funny at all?". This film was terrible and boring as hell, story was sloppy and it came to a pretty stupid ending. I really don't get my hopes up for too many films these days but when you know a writer/director has talent you kind of do get your hopes up and to see the serve you dog feces is pretty disappointing. My honest advice with this film is just don't bother, it is a waste of an hour. If you want a laugh just watch his first film "Ned".

Ten minutes into this movie, you're either going to get where the writer is going with this, or you'll be totally put off by it. The polarised reviews on this page are no coincidence. It's the darkest of black comedies which takes on a very sensitive subject and makes us look at some truths about ourselves as Australians (both new and old). That can make people pretty uncomfortable.

I actually really enjoyed it. The comedy is handled well, and if you're paying attention, you'll catch some excellent sight-gags peppered through the movie. But it's not just about the laughs. There is a serious message at the heart of Down Under, and it's delivered well by a deft script that doesn't pull its punches, and a gifted cast who can go from funny to horrifying and back.

Kudos to writer/director Abe Forsyth.

My hopes are never that high when it comes to Aussie film (despite being an Australian myself), but this blew my family and I out of the water. We were laughing all the way through, connecting with the characters (despite their very obvious flaws), and oddly surprised by the high production values. Acting was on-point and convincing. The characters seemed like real people, as stupid as some of them may be. By the end, the characters were humanised enough for us that we wanted NO ONE to get hurt (even those that may have deserved it) and whenever a hit landed, we felt it. The missing star for me would maybe come from a lake of clarity for what the film stood for other than 'hate and prejudice is bad'. Maybe lacking a bit of nuance in that department. After watching this film I immediately searched for ways that I could support it and the filmmaker, having only heard about it a few years after it's release (due to the streaming service Stan) - my mission begins with this review. I was honestly surprised at the relatively low reviews for this film as it set the bar for my family and I for modern Australian comedy film. Everyone involved kudos and KEEP DOING WHAT YOU LOVE - because I love it.

To see this film rated at 6.1 is complete crap, it definitely does not deserve anything less than an 8. After reading a couple bad reviews, it looks like some of you idiots went expecting something closer to real events, but if you just look at it just as what it is, a hilarious black comedy, its amazing! I laughed my ass off the entire film, the acting was perfect, the story really was interesting for a comedy, and every second of the film was incredibly entertaining! I really thought it was damn near perfect for a black comedy, some of you people need to realize that this is not documentation, nor a true story, its a comedy, a really funny one!

Hilarious. Coming from the Bankstown area and commonly around the Shire this is incredibly accurate.