Backyard Ashes (2013)

Don't listen to the negative reviews

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Embarrassing.Between making great crime-dramas (eg Animal Kingdom, Snowtown), Australia makes some horrendously bad movies. Pretentious dramas (eg Jindabyne), low-brow comedies (eg the Wogboy) and its cousin, the intended-to-be-folksy-but-really-quite-stupid comedy. This is one of the latter.Watched this because it involved cricket, and almost immediately regretted it. It has some good moments - some cricket in-jokes (eg the Muralitharan = chucker observation and bowling a beer underarm to a New Zealander) and some other laugh-out-loud moments - but these are few and far between. This is seriously bad.Every stereotype is employed, every cliché abused in this farce. The writers and director could not have made the characters more of caricatures of Australians and English if they tried. The plot, for lack of a better word, is silly and contrived. It's as if they wanted to be as predictable and unoriginal as possible.Embarrassing to watch, especially if you're Australian. A movie made to appeal to the lowest common denominator.

If you liked The Castle or The Dish, then this movie is for you. The characterisations were good, although the "posh" English accent was a bit off. Many of the actors are not terribly well known which gives it an authentic feel. Set in Wagga Wagga a town in outback NSW and full of consummate Aussie humour this movie portrays a typical Australian family with no frills, just a movie about mates and mateship, cricket of the backyard variety and breaking down boundaries - eventually!! Well done to Crow Crow Productions, an independent production company that focuses on the development of New Australian film, and such a shame the Australian movie distributors didn't pick this one up.

Alas! A failed attempt to stretch a very thin plot to ninety minutes. This story could've been laid out pretty quickly, after which the charming cast should've been able to knock pun after pun out of the park. Could have should have...Instead, the plot develops toe-curlingly slow, and then just deflates. The writer runs out of jokes, the editor runs out of film and the only ones enjoying themselves, seem to be the actors.I am truly sorry guys, but this one gets 1 point for the love that obviously went into it, and another for the amiable cast. Hey, at least somebody had a good time, right?

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!