Somersault

There is a moment in Cate Shortland's "Somersault" where Joe (Sam Worthington), a surly and emotionally closed-off young man confused over the feelings he has for his kind-of girlfriend Heidi (Abbie Cornish), shows up at the home of an openly gay acquaintance of his mother's and—after downing several shots and spilling his guts to the older man—follows him into the hallway and makes an awkward pass at him by planting a drunken kiss on him. It's a surprising twist in both Joe's development as a character and the movie itself, but it's just one of several similarly unexpected--and unexplained--moments that define Shortland's oddly compelling drama about sexual coming-of-age. Joe is not the main character, nor does the film ever revisit his attempt at same-sex experimentation, and it's that vague attention to detail that is the most frustrating aspect of the movie. The story actually belongs to Heidi, an evidently emotionally troubled teenager with no concept of propriety who, for no apparent reason, decides to make a pass at her mother's hunky boyfriend. When mom comes home and catches the two kissing, she freaks, and Heidi runs away to a neighboring town. There, she shacks up in the small flat of an empathetic motel owner, gets a job at the local BP service station, and has sex with a string of guys. It is Joe, however, that most captivates her, and their awkward and strained attempts at forging a relationship are some of the most authentic captured on celluloid. Both of them are plagued by troubles that are never explored (apparently, Heidi once tried to commit suicide, as is evidenced by the scars on her wrists), but as they begin to open up to each other, the movie becomes more fascinating and oddly romantic. Shortland's direction is as languid as her ambling script (a bit more back story on the characters would have made them more three- dimensional), but her style is effective nonetheless, providing a showcase for the talents of both Worthington and Cornish, two young Aussie up-and-comers who appear to have big futures ahead of them. Grade: B.--Originally published in IN Los Angeles Magazine.

I admit that I'm a film coward-domestic and personal interaction can put me on the edge and yesterday afternoon I was on the edge for the entire length of this movie. That is not to say that the film was in any way poorly made or grade B-it was just the opposite. Somersault was a brilliantly crafted, directed and acted film and it deserves a huge audience around the world. It is nothing a Hollywood film is: no physical violence [but much mental violence and disorder], no crime, no lame sappy ending, no laboratory special effects-in short a real film about real people living real lives.

The GenXers do it differently than my generation did but that is to be expected-I just found Cate Shortland's look into their lives a little edgy for someone further down the age track like me. I admired greatly the acting as well as the cinematography of the film; the direction was superb as Ms. Shortland spliced together the fragmentation of the lives of the principle characters. Those lives were highly disjointed but that is probably a generational comment because the people portrayed seemed less upset about their situations than I felt about them.

The film deserves all the accolades it is receiving-make every effort to see it.

I saw this film this weekend at a film festival in Austin, Texas, without having heard anything about it ahead of time, and without reading any reviews. I suspect that going in to the theater without any expectations made it more enjoyable to watch.

The cinematography was excellent, and the acting was quite strong. The script was a bit weak, but did not get in the way of the film being engaging and interesting. The story is a bit ethereal at times, by design I think, and flows gradually as the scenes change.

I'd recommend it, especially for anyone who is comfortable with unconventional scripts.

I saw a screening of this in New York City in late March, and I loved it. I thought about this movie for many days afterward, and it is one of the best films I've seen all year. It is scheduled for an October release.

This was a beautiful, poetic film- one that touched me both on an artistic level and a deeply personal level. Although I am forty-five now, the movie took me on a vivid journey back to my own adolescence, and the truth that Ms. Shortland captured about "Heidi," and the relationship between "Heidi" and "Joe" was breathtakingly realistic.

Somewhere during my viewing, I realized I was watching one those rare works of art which so startlingly and accurately paint a piece of the human experience that is both reflective of its time and place and destined to transcend them. "Heidi's" red gloves become the self-protective coat of armor to an Aussie teen-aged a girl of the twenty-first century the way "Holden's" red hunting cap served the same purpose to the confused, distraught adolescent of 1940's New York City.

The acting is superb, and there is not a false note anywhere to be found in any of the elements of this film.

Although slow to start I found I became increasingly involved in the story (young girl finding out what's appropriate in life and love) as the characters lives unfolded. By the end I was totally hooked. There might have been an attempt to show too many facets of the Australian character in this movie, but, in the end I didn't mind because the characterizations were so good. Rare to find in any movie. Was also nice to enjoy some good acting from unknown faces and excellent cinematography - the film had a great look - pale blue/white and red, and good editing. Don't be put off by the negative comments in other reviews, I know I shouldn't say this, but I think they've missed the point :)