Tom White

In Tom White, the title character (played by Colin Friels) "drops out" of society after a work crisis and becomes homeless. He drifts through Melbourne meeting a rent boy (Dan Spielman), an ex-junkie (Loene Carmen), a tramp (Bill Hunter) and a young graffiti artist (Jarryd Jinks).

Scripted by Australian playwright Daniel Keane, Tom White continues to explore the societal dissociation that Keane covers in his stage works. Like them, too, it suffers from heavy-handedness, resulting in impassioned performances from hollow characters.

Additionally, Keane's interest in medieval miracle plays – where every character is symbolic – clashes with director Alkinos Tsilimidos and cinematographer Toby Oliver's naturalistic film-making. Tom White is harshly lit and like Praise (1998), confronts the ugliness in Australian society. At the same time we don't know what motivates these people, and the dialogue is unrealistic. It's an uneasy mix.

Colin Friels turns in a strong performance, as does Rachel Blake as his wife. But many of the other characters are overly stagey. Tom White is at its most interesting towards the end, when Tom is interacting with the young graffiti artist, but is overall an interesting failure. **/***** stars.

This is a thought-provoking Australian film about the subject of untreated mental illness and the total isolation from family and friends which can follow. It shows how those who suffer from mental health problems may try to cope with the situation themselves rather than seek medical attention. It's a dark and brooding film, which explores the twists and turns of life on the street, and shows us how difficult such a life can be. The movie avoids sentimentality and leaves the viewer to ponder where untreated depression and related mental health issues may ultimately lead.

Colin Freils provides a wonderful character study in his role as Tom. Unfortunately, though, some of the support acting is decidedly lacklustre. Nice camera work throughout.

'Tom White' contrasts strongly with several other well-known films dealing with mental illness: 'A Beautiful mind' was a glossy big-budget production with a positive message, and 'One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest' focused on an institutional setting.

I saw "Tom White" at its world premiere on Saturday July 31st, 2004; here in Melbourne.

"Tom White" tells the story of an ordinary guy whose life goes off the rails. When things fall apart at work, something snaps, and Tom sets out, leaving his home and family behind. What follows is almost a series of vignettes detailing Tom's run-ins with other people on the 'fringes of society', people in a world hidden in his city that he never really knew about.

I found this movie deeply thoughtful. Stepping away from the more lighthearted Australian comedy, this movie is a very thoughtful character study, looking into something for which most people have the capacity, but never really have the courage. Tom runs away from home, from his professional life in a desk job, and in doing so begins a new life, with a clean slate. He is no longer judged by his past, but by the person he is in that moment.

I watched this movie (set here in Melbourne) and found myself looking at landmarks I know in a totally different way when I passed them the next time: a day, a week later. This kind of film doesn't let go straight away, it has you thinking for quite awhile afterward too.

Recommended for audiences willing to take a chance with the relaxed pace and simply let the film wash over them. For me, the evaluation came at a later time: in the theatre I was swept away by the intriguing photography and the great performances by everyone, particularly Colin Friels (Tom White), Loene Carmen (Christine) and Jarryd Jinks (Jet). Dan Spielman and Bill Hunter gave stand-out performances also.

Three and a half from Five Stars.

'Tom White' is by no means an easy film or, strictly speaking, an enjoyable one. But you come away thinking about the issues it raises, digging as it does into layers of emotional truth and 'life in the margins' (albeit, admittedly, somewhat romanticized).

Tom (a superb performance by Colin Friels) is a man who designs home for a living and then chooses to make himself homeless. Outwardly, he has all the signs of a comfortable, successful life - new home, loving family, successful if stressed career. But his shaking hands show something different - especially when it soon becomes clear that not everything is as it appears at work. Male middle aged 'crisis' is a huge issue in Australia at the moment, and the cause of many unexpected suicides. Tom White chooses a different path and cuts all bonds with his up to now normal life. He has chosen the margins, where those he meets, in spite of their position, have enormous self-dignity - the rent-boy, the ex-junkie, the gentlemanly tramp, the 14 year-old graffiti artist. Tom goes on a journey of his own and plumbs the depths of society, yet he overcomes and discovers his own dignity and understanding of who he is.

As mentioned, it can be somewhat romanticized, and there is little in the way of the real squalor of homelessness, but nevertheless the film presents food for thought in an attempt to present a broader understanding of those who are or chose to live on the fringes rather than endure life without any real meaning.

I'm sorry, I agree Colin Friels is a brilliant actor...BUT... this movie stinks! The worst part about it is the endless parade of totally unbelievable characters. The way this movie was written, directed and acted, I didn't buy for a second it could actually happen.

This middle-aged bloke all of a sudden having a nervous breakdown and stumbling across a rent-boy in a pub toilet, taking him home, making him breakfast, going to a boozey party and then ending up in the sack with him...going to the carnival and casually picking up the junkie chick with the heart of gold who's running the slug-gun game.... being stopped from smashing the pimp's dog by Bill Hunter quoting the classics who later reprises his triumphant role from 'Priscilla, queen of the desert' by hitting on him...etc, etc, etc..

It was just too much! How this ever got funding is beyond me... it was just so fake & disingenuous I thought...