Backyard Ashes

This was a Tuesday night movie mid-February 2025. Watched on ABC iView.

A nostalgic trip down memory lane of Australian comedies and cricket. We're in "The Castle" (1997) territory here. The banter and ribbing between friends is pushed to the limit here, seemingly too much at times, but I think that is the point.

Parody is the game here, alongside cricket! Even the title is a pun.

And yet there is a wonderful warmth in the acting and storytelling. The villain is indeed villainous, and our hero is struggling and almost gives up. But watch this to the very end - as it weaves its tragic, groan-inducing, hilarious magic - it ends surprisingly well.

This is a celebration of everything Australia once was and a wistful ode for contemporary life.

Highly recommended.

No animals were harmed in the writing of this review.

A mate in Australia recommended this movie to me and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's light-hearted and silly and packed with loads of subtle cricket references (Jardine, Dexter, Harlequin caps, impersonations of famous commentators etc.) which keeps the narrative moving along at a very predictable but steady pace. The story is a bit weak but it's never less than highly entertaining. At times, the stereotypes are a little obvious but remember folks that this is a COMEDY. It's meant to be funny and in the manner of the typical Australian cinematic style (and its refreshing non-conformity to a PC strait-jacket), it entertains without offending.

Backyard Ashes looks like a low budget movie with a big budget relation to real life. Being an Indian and playing cricket with friends and family, I can truly relate to this movie. This was my 1st Australian movie that I have watched and I must admit it hit the right cords. Big budget movies generally focus more on the big names but this focused on everyone in the movie. It was a simple yet very honest movie. Loved ones getting together, playing a good game of cricket, the annoying and unfriendly neighbors, the old couple upstairs, the entire locality and the craziness that comes along. Its a good watch for a nice lazy afternoon....

A really entertaining comedy with catching characters, terrific actors and dialogues so nice that you are left under the impression that the Authors had much more material than that they had to squeeze in the movie.

The script is so sound that it could easily be a novel instead of a movie. And as in good novels it gets better and better as the story goes on and those people you could find a little annoying at the beginning you'll end loving in the final. I look forward to seeing more from Mark Grentell, Peter Cox and this really talented lot.

And, by the way, I can't play Cricket or have the faintest idea what the bloody rules could be.

It was an excellent movie. Short summery a 'whinging pommie' and a 'dinkum Aussie' sort the differences in backyard cricket. The movie itself was a good small budget comedy that unlike others really delivers not only a good laugh but conveys a message about how a person who you don't like can become a friend. The whole setting is a typical Aussie setup none other than backyard cricket. They have nicknames based on popular cricketers such as Dougie waters 'Dougie Walters' and 'pidge 'pigeon aka Glenn McGrath' the whole movie is basically dedicated to the Aussie bloke who loves playing or have played backyard cricket with mates. A must see for a comedy fan!!!

Overall 10/10 A good laugh and a great small budget film!