The Rooster

I'm not a feminist and I believe men deserve to have their stories told but I found this to be a tedious journey trying to explore the minds of broken men. The exploration itself is at the pace of a snail, I found myself and my girlfriend looking at our phone because many of the scenes just were too quiet that nothing was really going on. I love quiet and poetic cinema and always applaud the use of restraint in storytelling, especially not to over-indulge with so many film-making trickery and camera angles.

This film did not tell a story well, instead it indulged itself with men behaving like boys and a chance for an esteem actor such as Hugo to have fun and act like a fractured, naughty little boy.

The other actor seemed to play it very calm, but I felt his presence was not quite there.

I didn't know what this film was about, maybe I wasn't paying attention, maybe it wasn't clear enough or maybe I'm just not intelligent enough.

It seems to be a theme in Australia where directors like to mimic other styles of Aussie storytelling, it's the tedious and horse-flogging style of really dragging it out.

As they say boys will be boys.

Going in I had no real idea what to expect as I avoided reading the reviews and I will watch any movie that Hugo Weaving is part of as he has rarely disappointed me, this was no exception.

A rather depressing and slow unusual movie that most will not get or like. Being very slow you really need to watch the whole movie to get anything from it at all.

I would describe this as a man movie and it seems like a realistic take on life. Life serves up some nasty surprises and some really nice surprises, this one gives us a few of both.

I particularly liked the relationship between the two main characters and there were no loose ends with a satisfying ending.

Not a movie to watch if you are depressed.

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.

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 honestly don't get all the naysayers here. Yes, it's a slow movie. Yes, it's depressing. Yes, not much happens in the typical sense. None of that makes this a bad movie. I personally really liked it. I enjoyed watching this unlikely friendship happen at its own abnormal pace. I thought the actors were quite adept at making me believe this. And I also enjoy where this story went and where it ended. I recommend anyone who's OK with this type or cinema that's not meant to have you at the edge of your seat, but rather witness life happen, to give this film an honest try and watch it any way they can. I certainly hope you aren't disappointed.