Little Sparrows

It's rare when I watch a film and almost every choice made by the writer and director and cinematographer annoys me.

I thought this was extremely clichéd in its characters, plot, style. I thought it had a rather ugly look with a very flat look and harsh lighting. Then they kept going through movie-of-the-week tropes, such as having characters move as blurry figures in the background, or filming someone through a window holding their head in their hands. The music cues were far too intrusive and loud, except when it is quiet and clichéd, especially the annoying light piano tinkling to denote a serious moment of death.

Otherwise, dialogue sounds straight from the writer and overly scripted. I also think it is a mistake for a young writer-director to have several characters be actors, so that you have actors portraying actors. And the addition of hip popular topics such as lesbianism and tattoos felt rather artificial and unnecessary.

If you could punch a film ... well, I had a clenched fist for most of the duration. Really the first hour felt like 2 hours. I thought it was a lengthy film even though it actually is under 90 minutes. maybe just much more of a chick and family film than I care for. The Father and husbands/boyfriends were very marginal characters. I don't care about that, but the focus on the mother and three daughters just unspooled in ways which made me cringe.

I normally love moody, character-driven dramas, but this one just didn't do it for me. First of all, the mother was too saintly. I am sure there are wonderful mothers out there like that, however, they don't make for the most interesting characters. Secondly, there was just too much kissing and hugging amongst everyone. Sure, they had problems, but at the end of the day everyone loves everyone. I suppose I find truly tortured souls more interesting. While the siblings had some issues, I just didn't find them to be that damaged. Lastly, I don't feel the mothers illness was accurately portrayed. In reality, she would have been quite exhausted and not so bubbly (this is coming from a cancer survivor). On the plus side, the acting was very good. It was just too sugar-coated for me.

A pleasant surprise which stands apart from the regular grade genre of Australian films. Multiple narratives woven into one. Just watch it...

Great acting, fantastic directing and just an overall very well made movie. I was really touched by this film in many ways, it touches on life issues and is a must see imo.

Do yourself a favor and check this movie out, extremely underrated!

Great cinematography, story, acting, directing and pretty much every other aspect was well done.

I don't want to spoil anything so I wont go into details about what the movie is about, other then there is a family and the mom is sick. It all felt so real to me this movie, which is rare in films these days.

Not 100% sure what it was that made me feel so touched by this film, all I know is that it brought up a lot of emotion and really touched me. Not many films have the power of doing that.

The director, cast and everyone else who works on this movie deserve some credit, this is what great movies are all about imo.