mslouisebrooks

A rewarding and engaging independent movie with a tough script and gutsy performances from the two female leads. It seems we can stomach gritty working-class films if they come out of the UK - Ken Loach say, or Mike Leigh - but in Australia if it's not Kath and Kim or The Castle then we find the portrayals a little hard to handle. Teesh and Trude offers us a day in the life of two working class mums doing it hard (very hard) and manages, through some fine directing, to deliver to these women some redemption at the end of a difficult bloody day. Peter Phelps is great as the buffoon boyfriend, Susie Porter and Linda Cropper navigate frustration and despair with dignity and humour. The direction (by Melanie Rodriga) searches for the hidden beauty in the council flat and the shopping centre and somehow, manages to find them without resorting to sentimentality or cheap laughs.