I don't want to give any of the movie away and I fear I will do this if I say too much about the movie itself. I've just finished watching this gem of a movie and will re-watch it again tomorrow with my partner.
If you enjoy movies along the lines of 'Wall Street,' 'Boiler Room' and ' Glengarry Glen Ross' and 'The Bank,' then I think you will enjoy 'The Bet' ('The Bet on Bet'). Even if these movies are not usually on your watch list, give 'The Bet' the benefit of the doubt and I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised.
For a director's first feature, I take my hat off to Mark Lee and also to the writer/producer who for reasons previously stated in another post did an amazing job getting this movie to our screens. For the most part the cast were excellent but a special mention to Matthew Newton for what I found to be a very real portrayal of someone in his position.
We could nitpick over minor faults and details here and there as we could with every movie, however, considering budget restraints, location, scheduling etc. etc., 'The Bet' stands proudly alongside other great Australian movies of the past 10 years.
If you're interested in checking some out, here are a few I'd highly recommend... 'The Bank,' 'Better Than Sex,' 'Looking for Alibrandi,' 'Lantana,' 'The Oyster Farmer,' 'Little Fish,' 'Japanese Story,' 'Chopper,' 'Romulus, My Father,' 'The Proposition,' 'Shine,' 'Wolf Creek,'.... the list is endless.
I wish more of these stylish and artistic movies from Australia and other parts of the world were promoted a little more worldwide. From what I've been told it had enough trouble being shown in it's country of origin thanks mainly to mainstream cinemas continually refusing to show mature movies with substance instead preferring to pander to one particular and constant demographic. Wake up! You show it, we'll come to see it!!
Finally, well done Australia, another movie your industry should be very proud of and I look forward to spotting more films by this director and writer/producer.
Enjoy!
For more great Australian movies:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_set_in_Australia
http://www.listology.com/content_show.cfm/content_id.12707
