Last Ride (2012)

People are voting emotionally.

Don't listen to the negative reviews

Absolutely Fantastic

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

a silent, melancholic movie about father and son who gonna cope with their own special reality and history. these two guys, who cannot avoid getting in trouble again and again, because of the fathers violent character. we only know some of the shadows of his past and the reasons behind his violence. that's enjoyable enough to remain in the frontiers of melancholy. the movie tells -- literally, like at the campfire -- about the wounds that are reason and those who can be results.anyway, the pictures don't surprise. we see nothing new. especially, if we have already seen ›perfect world‹. and if we have seen widescreen documentations about the terrific Australian landscape.

According to the Screen Australia web site, some 45 Australian features were made in 2008, up from 25 in 2007. This movie is probably one of the better ones along with Sampson, My Year Without Sex, Disgrace, Mary and Max and The Black Balloon. It is an adaptation of a well-received first novel by Denise Young by a first-time feature director Glendyn Ivin, the sort of creative combination so beloved of our film funding bodies – "Here's $3 million, go away and play dears". In this case the result isn't so bad and the film does add something to the novel's story of a petty criminal's last sojourn with his 10 year old son across the Australian countryside, with the forces of law and order in hot pursuit. The novel set the action in outback New South Wales but the film makers removed the setting to the more spectacular wildernesses of northern South Australia for both artistic and financial reasons. The reason for Kev and his son Chook's flight, apparent at the start of the novel, is revealed only by degrees, which does add to the drama.As others have noted, the father Kev, played with all lugubrious stops out by the lugubrious Hugo Weaving, is not a very likable character. Not only does he have serious anger management issues, he is pretty selfish and stupid – the sort of criminal one finds in prison rather than out of it. Having had a pretty sad upbringing himself he does try to do better as a father, but it is not easy for him, and it is not surprising his son becomes disillusioned. His son, despite all the fatherly incompetence, seems surprisingly normal – perhaps this is the result of an uncannily naturalistic piece of acting by Tom Russell, a child actor who is so good he doesn't seem to be acting. What does come across is that even bad fathers can teach good lessons, and that in the end we have to become our own person.Greig Fraser's cinema photography featuring the Flinders ranges, Wilpena Pound and Lake Gairdner gives a majestic backdrop to what is a fairly small story – I thought it a bit like "And When Did You last See Your Father" would have been if it had been set in the Swiss Alps. Unlike that film, this one has a less angry tone. Poor old Kev can't really help being so inadequate, and he at least makes an effort for his son.This was an interesting and watchable piece, but I can't see it doing well. Like a lot of similar realistic movies it deals with people at the margins of society, and frankly, most people aren't interested (escapist is a different story). I just wish the government film bodies would stop throwing money at first-timers to make stuff so alien to most people's experiences and of so limited relevance to whatever main steam Australian culture is. One the other hand, The Black Balloon and My Year Without Sex did deal with topics relevant to us all. Bring back David Williamson, I say.

If you've seen a lot of father and son stories, you won't see much that's new here, but there are some very affecting scenes, as crim dad drags innocent young son across the Australian countryside and bush. Hugo Weaving is okay as dad, but often he's not convincing. There are quite a few local actors who would have been less self- conscious, but, alas they are not semi-stars like HW. The boy, Tom Russell, is excellent. Trouble is the script is not very exciting. Many stock-standard father and son scenes start developing, and I think: 'oh.. my cliché expectations will be subverted at any second', but they are not. There are some tender moments - mainly created by sensitive direction and Russell's excellent underplaying, but it's too long a ride. I won't spoil the story, but I was not in the least bit convinced by the transformation at the end of the story..it just seemed like a sudden and easy way for the writer to put a full stop. However, the cinematography is superb..Last Ride is typical of what I think is wrong with Australian movies: they're well made, they look pretty, but not enough happens. There's no rigour in the scripting. Wouldn't it be better to make sure you've got a really solid vehicle before you start off on the ride?

I hate rating movies, but I give this one a 10, because it deserves it. I always been a fan of Hugo Weaving and he was twice as rewarding in this movie because he was so good in it, then it seems that he stepped out of the screen and came again to have a chat with the audience with writer, producer and "Max".(as reported being done in Brisbane in an earlier entry but this was in Sydney.I also missed out on the opportunity to get the inspiring book as it was the reward for those who asked questions but I was a little shy about it!) During this time I also learned that the book for once was actually shorter than the movie! So you take your seat and the films starts. The photography is stunning especially as you move, close and personal, into a wonderful Australian outback. No cliché, not too much to distract you away from from the unfolding drama. There father and son seem to learn about each others, but the hard way. Occasional flashbacks help you to understand a few aspects of the present situation. And you continue the ride, warts and all which focuses very closely on these two characters a middle age man who evolved from the school of hard knocks, and his somehow estrange son. We were told by the producer that the "ride" had to end somehow and there were alternatives on how to end this ride. I feel they made the right choice although the alternative would not have been unthinkable. Hugo's acting is very impressive in this work, and his 10 years old co- star is almost equally to the task. "Max" does little but very well too. I can't wait to read more comments from some of these excellent people who regularly share they thoughts here, because I'd be surprised if this does not prompt them to praise and elaborate much more concisely about it. Yes don't miss it