Streamline

Men are made by their mistakes. It's only when you lose everything you find out who you are. You find the best part of yourself.

For a directorial debut, Tyson Johnston did a solid job making a touching and investing story. The performances were all solid. And hey, there's Jason Isaacs, who did a great job even though he had little screen time.

The story itself still was a bit too quick. The relationship between the estranged dad and the kids should have been explored further.

Overall, it's a good drama with potential. 7.5/10.

There is a true grit of honesty in Aussie film and it's portral of people and language. This movie has it. A very confident film debut for Tyson Wade Johnston writing and directing. It's true blessing is the rising super star of Levi Miller. Amazing child actor who is growing into an talented actor (see Better Watch Out and American Exit for starters) and will be a superstar.

The life got sucked out of this movie by the downtrodden writing. There was just not much excitement in the movie in any way. It's supposed to be inspiring but my god, you just want to rescue this kid from his life. Awful parents, awful friends, in an awful environment that beats you over the head with bullies and despair. I watched 38 minutes in and had to give up. Just nothing to hope for here, except that prospective viewers read this and skip it. Started this on a whim and couldn't wait to turn it off.

Throughout this film, I had to keep asking myself, "Why bother?" The acting is competent. The production values are adequate for the job. But the script is sadly wanting. The adjectives that come to mind are: predictable, tedious, labored, timid, muddled. I can only hope that the writer meant to do better but felt constrained. If this film is the result of an unconstrained talent, there is much to lament.

Actors and characters with zero personality or emotional connection, makes non engaging viewing. Australia desperately needs to do better, especially with selecting and casting its actors. Are they told to be bland and scripted?