I've thought about this Australian film a lot since I saw it earlier this week. I'm a bit up and down as to whether I like it and could recommend it. That probably makes me a crappy blogger but I always want to be honest with you, dear readers.
Ruben (Patrick Brammall) is an advertising guru who's living the high life - amazing house by the Sydney Harbour, hot model girlfriend, booze, booze and more booze. You get the picture.
His girlfriend gets fed up and skips town but says she'll give it another shot if he stays sober for a year. Ruben has an emotional watershed moment pretty early on the film and you know what? I just felt no empathy for him. We just hadn't been given enough reasons to care about this guy yet. It was a strange moment in the film.
What follows is an interesting look at how unbelievably hard it must be to give up the grog when it's under your nose constantly. Alex Dimitriades is great as his camp mate who presents constant temptations because he's so bored by how dull Ruben is sober and that's just one of the many things luring him back to the bottle.
Also a shout out to my home girl Robyn Nevin (Ruben's mum) who I just love. This isn't her best work but seriously, even her worst work is great.
If I must summarize it, I guess I'd put it in the middle of the road. Certainly not terrible but also not amazing. If you do see this, I'd love to hear what you think.
The Herald Sun's Leigh Paatsch called it "irksomely uneven" in his review which I guess is in keeping with my experience. He gave it two stars.
For a more positive take on it, here's a 3.5 star Sydney Morning Herald review which is also a good source of background on the film is you're keen to know more.
Trailer here.