Lucky Miles (2007)

It is a performances centric movie

Excellent but underrated film

Absolutely the worst movie.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Every so often we get to see a little film on TV not too long after its hardtop screening. And this one was worth the second look. It's another way of looking at the Australian outback, not for its awesome beauty but for the challenges it sets for people not used to such a landscape. Here we have such a challenge, the protagonists being asylum seekers who are victims of amoral people-smugglers. This is currently a political hot potato in Australia, as it has been for many years. But this film has a quirky edge to it, and the seriousness of the images is relieved hugely by the humour. It really is fun, and the way the Australians in uniform handle the reality is the fun that has come to be known as gallows humour. Imagine you're a cop or a soldier faced with a nasty situation. You grin, and relieve the tension by making light of things. Resourcefulness and mateship are supposed to be part of the Australian psyche, and this great little film has it in spades. Think "Bush Mechanics". Think "Flight of the Phoenix". And listen out for the voice on the radio. That's the beautiful Deborah Mailman, whom the casting agent would surely have loved to at least do a walk-on. See it on wide screen.

I am not voting 10 for the film because I was a cast member and had a role in the film, but because of how it blew me off whilst watching it at the premiere last week. I have done a fair few gigs and this one is by far the best of the best. I have never voted for work I have been a part of before, but this one is really a cracker of a picture and a very well told story. Michael's directions is wonderful and the narrative is held extremely well with the superb performances by the lead actors. I can't be reviewing the film, as it might sound one sided, however I am voting 10 because that is my genuine feeling towards the film. I have it as a top 5 Aussie films of all time. If I see it again, I will probably notice other positives/ flaws in the film and I will happily report them. OSAMAH

LOVED the film ..the story line the cinematography....there were so many wonderful moments...loved how the Arun 'pan' like figure searched for his Father in spite of the odds...loved how the ute and the old shed scene ...felt the raw human emotion when Arun was in the headlights of the car driven by Gerard K...it was fate and luck as to whether the driver would be friend or foe...so well done! Loved how S.A. was made to look like W.A....and how the mean pirate seemed to be sending the message that "He who is without sentiment or conscience will prevail"...but did his karma-drama get him?..watch the film and find out! Loved Lillian Crombies brief appearance and how the army-tracker really captured the skill and simplicity of the Black-fellas perception of things...especially when they were all running left right and centre and he observed their histrionics. Thought it was funny when the Sargeant was showing his tracker skills by reading the obvious..... Really liked how the vulnerability of dispossession was portrayed and how Yousiff kept on going in spite of having lost his wife and brother and job and belongings...and how he looked after the others in spite of his anguish and frustration. And its true..bars in Asia are full of funny smelling Ozzies and the kind of humour you captured in the film. One of my favourite scenes was when someone said "He has a gun" and the camera panned right back to a synchronised retreat of all in the shot...well done! An AFI for this one I reckon!

It was refreshingly funny, simply told, and yet really meant something. I went in to this film with my friends specifically because we wanted to see something Australian and fit around our work schedules. So with such high expectations i really didn't know what i was getting myself into, but was very pleasantly surprised. It has the subtle kind of humor, which in my opinion is so much better than all the cruid, outlandish humor used in all the blockbusters now a days. They didn't try to do to many things with the movie, to many little movie type tricks, or have to much going on, like most independent films I've seen tend to try to do. Overall, good movie. I would defiantly recommend.