My Year Without Sex (2010)

the audience applauded

Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,

Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I don't have much exposure to Aussie film as they rarely make it mainstream USA theater. I think the last one I saw was "Mureil's Wedding", which was incredibly funny, touched with enough raw emotion to make you identify with the cast, and leaving with a good warm feeling. That was my take on this one. I have a twisted love for the disturbing films ("Requiem for a Dream", " Black Swan"....)...you get the drift. But there is something about Aussie film that I find very appealing. Maybe it's their Disneyesque, all is well feeling with just enough realism to be believable. The acting is superb in "My Year Without Sex" , especially the the children, Louis and Ruby....where are they now?? Thank God for the Sundance Channel!!!!

I attended the North American Premiere of "My Year Without Sex" at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. The obviously titillating and suggestive title may be a bit misleading, but writer/director Sarah Watt has hit the jackpot with this sweet little Australian dramedy. After a brain aneurysm, Natalie (Sacha Horler) is advised by her doctor to avoid certain risky behaviors. Mayhem ensues. The script is sexy without being too bawdy, but I'd recommend it for ages 14+ and there are some Aussie references that may get past viewers. I loved the cute soundtrack and clever structure, with title cards presenting each month of the year as a separate segment with its own sexually suggestive title (Foreplay, Going Down...). But strong performances make this film worth seeing.

When one enters a cinema noting that 90% of the audience is female, one expects 'chick lit' or a weepie. Sarah Watt is a great storyteller, but chick lit is not her scene. In episodic form, she portrays an ordinary family as they experience near-tragedy and misfortune, but come out of it with just a little bit of luck. This is a love story, and it portrays how a close family can overcome great stress by knowing love for each other. The key character is Natalie, played by Sacha Horler, a brave actor who can handle difficult parts superbly. Watt ignores the old rule: never appear with children and dogs. The children are truly very good, the dogs well-behaved. Does it help that members of the author's family are well represented? Look for 'Antoinette'. This is Watt's husband, William McInnes in drag. Another important character is Margaret, the one-time junkie pop singer, who essays a change as a priest, then surprises us all in the end. One hopes that this film reaches the rest of the world uncut. There is some strong language, but it belongs. Watt cleverly inserts the odd 'plant'. We wait in vain for the realization - Watt is an animator after all. And, yes, the audience came out smiling.

I enjoyed watching this film. I laughed and I shed a tear. I would like to watch it again as there are parts of the movie that are worth re-examining.Set in the inner western suburbs of Melbourne, this film touches on many of the day-to-day issues that Australian families are concerned with. Whether it be paying bills, how to bring up children, career management and of course, inter-personal relations.At an even deeper level, this movie examines a post-Christian society and some of the ways that people address the existential questions.Covering such a broad range of issues in a film means that only one of them is examined in depth. What keeps a marriage together "in sickness and in health?".One thing did get under my skin. The annoying cliché that portrays the struggling family as virtuous and their richer, flamboyant relatives as morally deficient.