Sucker

I'm proud to say that I was apart of the lucky group of people who got to see this splendid movie at its premiere and boy was it amazing.

This movie blew my socks off, literally. After the movie finished I had to search the entire cinema just to find them because they just flew right off my feet.

The story is an inspirational tale of young Asian teenager (YouTuber, John Luc AKA MyChonny) trying to find true calling in life after he's caught cheating on his medical exam. He eventually finds it learning how to scam people from master swindler (Timothy Spall aka the rat in Harry Potter) and his sometimes hot daughter (Lily Sullivan, great actress).

This is one of the few Australian movies that make Aussie cinema proud! (Unlike 'Australia'.. what on Earth happened there?)

It's YouTuber MyChonny's first official acting role and you can tell he was at ease from all of his years of experience acting as Asian mum, Asian dad, Asian boy, Asian girl and the list goes on.

In conclusion the movie is a interesting, well thought out story by Lawrence Leung and Ben Chessell did an amazing job directing it, his cinematography skills are truly something special.

I highly recommend this movie!

P.S. Did anyone notice how buff Chonny looked? WHAT A BOD!!

This is the type of movie that you would watch once and never again. It was as if the actors were really stiff and didn't play a natural role, leading us viewers wondering why the heck don't they just act normal!? Acting is very average and screenplay quite stale. The story line is okay, but probably could have not been so predictable. From the very beginning you already knew how the movie will play out. John Luc doesn't fit the charter too well at all. It was really cringe worthy and so many times i just wanted to turn off the movie but i stuck it out. However, did love that it was filmed in Australia. Well done for that. Lets just hope they don't make a follow up of this movie!

Overall, it's an okay movie that could have been better?

Sucker is, in some ways, a subtle coming-of-age film. It explores stereotypes, love, and perhaps most importantly, self-discovery. That's not to say that this is an solemnly serious film - there are plenty of comedic moments that exploit cultural norms and realities.

Lawrence's (John Luc) journey with con-artist The Professor (Timothy Spall) and Sarah is, for the most part, exciting and edited skillfully enough to not be mundane. The film has excellent visual direction with camera angles and cuts all chosen cautiously and adeptly.

Nonetheless there are some problems with pacing. At 90 minutes, the film feels a tad too rushed. As a result, both the story and the characters are not fleshed out as much as they could have been. For what Sucker is aiming to achieve, however, in terms of its thematic simplicity, the running time is not that significant an issue. I do feel however that another 15 minutes would have given the film more closure.

Internet sensation Mychonny's debut on the big screen is definitely worth a watch. It's a simple but relatable story elevated by a wonderful cast and a pleasing tonal consistency.

Cheesy screenplay, main protagonist has a really weird accent. I have never heard a Chinese guy speak like that. It's like one of those YouTube user providers who force a fake British accent that just sounds lame.

I suppose it's the character, but the character is a loser through and through. It made me cringe to see a negative stereotype being perpetuated.

Overall, the story seemed like it was written by a high school student. There were a few (very few) redeeming scenes that might have belonged in a better class movie.

First and for clarification I am not from Australia and therefore I am disinclined to give this film a wonderful glowing review comparing it to Star Wars, Return of the Force. But special thanks to the cast and crew for trying this anyway.

Now that we have that misconception dealt with, I will say that this film reminds me of the discussion on Media Ecology that the late Professor McLuhan used to give. The idea is to do the best you can with every opportunity to present media (entertainment) because society as a whole has to consume what is produced and you do not want to feed junk into the collective psyche.

This film is ecological, that is, it never pretends to be more than it is is. It is an indie low-budget little drama that essentially stars a trio of 3 actors and tries to sustain full screen length. It succeeds but only barely. There are too many boring stretches and too many spots where you think to yourself, I wish the screenwriter had done THAT instead of THAT, it would have been a much better movie.

For the first few minutes, you actually think you have found an Aussie Ferris Bueller. And then you realize, no way.