Last Cab to Darwin

Scriptwriter Reg Cribb and director Jeremy Simms have taken the true-life story of Max Bell and put a lens on attitudes about the right to die and aspects of Australian society most of us rarely see.

The film, based on Reg Cribb's 2003 stage play, commences in Broken Hill. Rex, a cabbie played by Michael Caton, has a long-standing relationship with Polly his Aboriginal neighbour. Both have somewhat abrasive personalities, but they complement each other perfectly.

When Rex is diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer, he learns that the Northern Territory has legalised euthanasia. He decides to leave and drive his cab to Darwin to have an assisted death rather than face a lingering one in hospital.

Rex's trip to Darwin is not unlike the journey of the three protagonists in "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert", its across roughly the same area and ends up in the same place, but like that earlier film, it's also a journey of discovery. Along the way, Rex becomes involved with a number of people and they change each other's lives.

Although the film alters Max Bell's experience considerably, "Last Cab to Darwin" allows for another journey; the one through the divide in Australian society that started in 1788 when the original inhabitants and the European settlers were thrown together.

The film seems to reinforce certain stereotypes about Indigenous Australians, especially in the role of Tilly (Mark Coles Smith), however in other ways it shows them as more sharing and less obsessed with material possessions. Tilly's character emerges as a complex one, although brash and cocky on the surface, his underlying fears and self doubts are revealed.

The setting for the film is during that brief period in the mid 1990's when euthanasia was legalised in the Northern Territory, but was quickly shut down by federal law. The film doesn't necessarily advocate euthanasia though; both sides of the argument are played out.

Finally, the performances are so real that some scenes are hard to watch. Michael Caton gave us a modern Australian icon with his Darryl Kerrigan in "The Castle", but he surpasses himself here.

The last scene in "Last Cab to Darwin" is a lump in the throat moment. Maybe the film won't have much of a following outside Australia, but its central theme of the right to die with dignity is universal.

I've read the negative reviews of the movie and it appears they have little sympathy for the harsh reality of the film LMAO. If I wanted to see a beautiful Australia or doing right to Aborigines I go watch nature channel or Crocodile Dundee. The unwillingness to accept the fate the movie has bestow to the viewer at front is astonishing mind boggling they deserve their own Darwin award.

The movie is sad, it's depressing. It's not going to make you feel good aside from the few moments. So if you're expecting something entirely different than what it's going to give you then you're going to have to join the negative reviewers and grab yourself a Darwin award.

Whether Rex lives or dies is inconsequential. It's his denial of his life and the people around him that is in question.

Enjoy the movie. It's not a great movie but it's a good movie worth watching.

One of the great Australian success stories of a very profitable 2015 for local films, Jeremy Sims Last Cab to Darwin scored over 7 million dollars in local box office receipts this year and garnered an equal share of critical and audience good will that will likely see it become a staple in collections of local film lovers for years to come.

Adapting Reg Cribb's successful stage play of the same name and casting Australian identity Michael Caton in the role that he portrayed in that very play, Sims has done a fine job at transplanting a play into a feature length film and his capturing of the dusty plains of outback Australia as Caton's dying cab driver and lonely soul Rex heads off on a road trip from South Australia's Broken Hill to Darwin is one of the films highlights.

But it's not all smooth sailing for Sim's as he finds trouble maintaining momentum in the film which starts off particularly strong and engaging but through a misguided and cliché ridden final act loses stem, particularly with a bunch of side characters that feel slightly underdeveloped and also far to "movie like" to feel real.

Caton delivers what could well be his finest ever moment as Rex a man we come to care for in a short period of time and Caton's experience with both comedy and drama serve him well as he balances a nice line between humour and pathos. Rex's journey (which is supposedly based around some true events) feels real and emotion filled but with the film itself set up for a 2 hour long trip, Rex's ride to be euthanized before cancer slowly kills him gets filled with Mark Coles Smith's (who sadly overplays) lost young man Tilly and Emma Hamilton's English ex-pat Julie's loving nurse and both these characters while at moments help the film along also take a little too much away from the film and it would've been nice to have seen them play smaller roles and Sims to have had more faith in Caton to carry the film along as he was seemingly more than up to the task.

One of the better feel good (and sad) Australian movies in some time, The Last Cab to Darwin would be an incredibly hard films to dislike and while it never breaks out into being an undeniably standout classic, its deserving of its warm reception and likely long standing place in the hearts of Australian movie goers that found themselves investing in this likable tale of one man's journey to find himself in world that seemingly passed him by.

3 ½ cat trees out of 5

Michael Caton has been a fixture on Australian screens since the 1970's thanks to TV shows like 'The Sullivans' and 'Packed to the Rafters'. His voice is quintessentially Aussie and his face and personality have made him a household name. His casting for this film is perfect and I can't even imagine another actor as Rex; so perfect is Caton, and such a gift for an actor who has mostly been the family uncle or grandad. Here he is, front and centre; stoic, three dimensional and instantly likable. Director Jeremy Sims, himself a TV and film actor, has elicited an award worthy performance from the veteran, but also helps young actor Mark Coles Smith as Tilly, make one of the year's best supporting turns. The camera just loves his wicked grin and his playful, easy charm. The film pulls no punches with some of the content surrounding both the indigenous characters such as Tilly, or the circumstances and realities of euthanasia. I was disappointed with Jacki Weaver here: she never looks or sounds comfortable with her character, and that is unfortunate as it is a linchpin to the film's trajectory, but Caton's 'Rex' is so unforgettable, that he carries even the weaker elements of the movie. Beautifully photographed and capturing the visceral parts of the landscape and the terrain, 'Last Cab To Darwin' is not a perfect film, but an enjoyable and significant one, and a rewarding one for its leading actor.

I saw this film yesterday, choosing it over both "Fantastic Four" and "The Man from UNCLE" and it was a good choice. The trailer - which I saw on tube - only gives you the basic scenario of the film, but NOT what it's about. I have to admit I chose it because it featured Michael Caton, who was also in another classic Aussie film *The Castle*. He, and the other actors in this film have been cast really well. I particularly like Ningali Lawford-Wolf as Polly, and Mark Coles Smith as Tilley.

The film made me laugh and cry, partly because it tapped into my own family history, But I loved the background to this story - the red and greens of the outback, the houses with tin roofs and rock fences - they remind me of Kalgoorlie where I lived at an early age . Also the film, which is based on a play by Reg Cribb, doesn't shy away from social issues that won't go away, but is ultimately uplifting in what it says.