Ao Redor do Bloco

Many people will see this as the stereotypical "rich white teacher reaches out to urban kids" film, but it worked for me as it adds a wrinkle to the old plot.

Christina Ricci player her part well as the enthusiastic teacher; however, the side plot concerning her sexuality was far less interesting than the main play revolving around Liam and his family. What really made it work for me was integrating Hamlet into the story and loosely basing the kid's experience on the play. That does tip the viewer off that it will end in tragedy, but it keeps the ending more realistic as well.

Spillane direction in Around the Block is great overall and just has a few cheesy scenes involving music montages. What bumps this from a below average movie to a slightly above average movie is Hunter Page-Lochard's acting. With any less, this movie could have been abysmal. He does a good, believable job and naturally acts out the part making this worth the view.

I'll admit I downloaded this based on the fact that Christina Ricci was the lead in it. To my surprise, it was the acting of the supporting cast that really led the way here. It is a very different character for Ricci, who has been sort of typecast as an oddball since her early Addams Family days. As a viewer, you are immediately taken in by the boy Liam who has secured the role of Hamlet in the school play. If you are a Shakespeare buff like I am, you will love the Hamlet plot lines and dynamics running throughout the film. You can see hints of that from the trailer but I didn't know just how central to the story Hamlet would be until I saw it for myself. It's a modern twist on an age-old tale, and with that, Around The Block is able to bring something new to the table.

Awesome movie I reckon. It has a wonderful story and great acting and it's way better than that show the block because it doesn't have that stupid foreman Keith and that massive dick Scott Scotty cam.

Just watch it! I have been TV less for 3 weeks and watching a lot of online films.I just dont understand the low scores, its like people are tearing these films apart and from what is a great movie they are finding things to dislike that dont even exist, maybe it is the reviewees own narrow mindedness or the urge to 'have their (damning) voice' heard. It's a beautiful film; the acting was super and the story about 'hope' in deciding your own path when life as it does makes it difficult. Don't read the miserable reviews from the film police, just watch it.

The film depicts life down under in Spillane's birth city of Sydney. She focuses on a white American teacher, played by Christina Ricci whose character of Dino Chalmers is trying to make a difference in the inner-city suburb of Redfern. She gets a class of Aboriginal teenagers to perform Shakespeare's Hamlet with her lead being Liam Wood, a 16-year-old Aborigine who has a talent for dancing and acting. Unfortunately, his future is threatened when he gets in trouble with the law and police.

Spillane was herself a teacher in Redfern from 2001 to 2005 at an Aboriginal arts college where she instructed students of all ages, including teenagers. She wrote the screenplay in 2004 after learning about a real-life Aboriginal teen who also got into trouble with the law and police.

Spillane's film has this racial tension rippling in the background, or on the side. Her aim is more to take a step back and not focus on the specific incident, but rather examine the neighborhood and show the situation, which led to the racial tensions, or the needless death, much in the same way Spike Lee did in 'Do the Right Thing' (1989).