William Kelly's War

The story had promise but the weak acting and dumb over-exaggeration killed it for me.

I guess it would make good comedy if satire is your thing?

The Kelly family have carved out a little piece of paradise in the old Australia where their father has created a cattle ranch and brought up a loving family. Then the Great War breaks out and the two eldest brothers, Billy and Jack, sign up together with their rambustious cousin Paddy.

We also have the antics that take place back home, with the opposition to conscription, the fretting of the families and the low dealings of opportunistic bush rangers.

Now I watched this on Amazon Prime Video and thought it would be a time killer, but no it is actually really good for an indie. The WW1 scenes may be lacking in money but they have tried extremely hard to recreate the terrible atmosphere of the war. Purists will not be impressed though. There are some scenes that are a bit of a stretch in that they never could have happened and that has caused some criticism – the hospital for example – but I do not want to spoil the plot.

The acting is very good to 'just OK' but the story is strong enough to make you forgive any shortcomings as this is a film that demands that you go along for the ride and you will enjoy it. I was hooked right till the end so this is one of those films that I can recommend but with the above caveats and I am being glass half full.

I guess it's all about expectations, having watched this film with no high expectations on the quality of acting, script or sets I was very much surprised. I found it a very enjoyable film and gave it a 6/10. The cast acted fine for the script, it was no 'Saving Private Ryan' and I was not expecting a high quality experience when looking at the cast. For me it was well worth a watch and I am glad that I did, well written, great landscapes and the war scenes were realistic enough. If you like war films to be gritty then this has it but also there are two stories going on here which merge well.

Again, my expectations may be low, but at the time of writing/rating this had a score of 6.4, not bad for a low budget offering and I look forward in seeing the cast in future projects.

William Kelly's War was a complete surprise. It was launched in cinemas without much fanfare. I wondered why? It had great reviews, a well known producer, a director on his second assignment and a little known cast in a story that had the audience cheering at the end of the movie. The tale of the two heroic brothers with their cousin Paddy really drew me in, I really cared for them as they are sent from battlefront to battlefront whilst their family back home are involved in another war with Bushrangers. The loving close-knit family is very cleverly set up at the front of the movie. The period settings, set design and characters are authentic, the pace perfect. This is a movie that connects with its audience, highly recommended.

It's worth the watch especially for Aussies. It so could have been great except for. The copious goofs The unrealistic bits throughout the movie. Other posters here name some but there is way more . And then there is some terrible acting and that brings me to my point "Nepotism killed this movies sucsess."