Good idea lost in the noise

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

A not even remotely good movie. The actors looked uncomfortable like they didn't want to be there and the American accents kept changing into Australian ones a lot (like they also did not want to be there). I usually enjoy Geena Davis' movies, but in this one her character was not endearing or even funny when she was supposed to be. I did not find the comments at the wake about Doug's deceased father funny- were they supposed to be? Without comedy and any characters to care about there is no dark humor.Were we supposed to feel sorry for Billy when he was trying to get out of admitting what he did with the bowling ball (even when his friend was begging him to admit it)? Where we supposed to egg him on when he was more interested in looking for a bowling ball that incriminated him than worrying that his friend's father was dead? Were we supposed to cheer when he got out of it and his friend's family had to live without the life insurance and their father was labeled as someone who killed himself? Were we supposed to celebrate when he was smoking dope with a girl and laugh when he robbed a store naked? Were we supposed to feel sorry for him when his brother in the nursing home didn't pay attention to self-centered Billy? Was this written by someone high on dope? Because it seems to be the only excuse for this accident. This movie should have been called "Stay away from Billy the uncaring narcissist or your death will be labeled an accident or suicide".

Confusing movie that can't decide whether it wants to be a dark comedy or a serious and sad drama. This confusion seems to stem from the over-the-top bad luck of poor Billy Conway. I mean, how likely is it that a driver in a residential area has a fatal car wreck while swerving to avoid a bowling ball? Or somebody gets fatally burned (opening credits) while firing up the BBQ? Sure, accidents happen... but not like this.The acting is fairly good, with Gina Davis playing a dysfunctional mom who has a talent for creative word nastiness. Too bad the other members lacked her verbal flagrancy, if they talked at all. And some of the more interesting characters (the overly sorry girl at the wake... the addicted aunt) are left woefully unexplored.A few times I also thought it was going to turn towards a teen coming-of-age storyline, but those moments quickly passed in what must've been an attempt to show us that teenage Billy is going through normal stuff for his age? Overall a depressing movie that lacks any insight or specific message. It does show us a slice of dysfunctional family life, but we're never sure what the point is and why we're watching. Some good acting brings it up a notch or two, but can't save a poor script.

For me the movie was great i liked it its simple and weird kinda... Me i like weird movies that does not mean anything particularity its just a story had to be told it has some irony which i like but in the end i enjoined watching it very much and from what i see they don't make a lot of movies such that one...Somehow it remind me of 11:14 About the acting its true it wasn't satisfying maybe because the actors were kids and new for this line of work but they weren't bad its can be accepted once you like the visual effects and the story line... finally that's just my opinion i don't know about you people...

This movie did a great job with the period details of 1982 and making Australia look like America and Australians sound like Americans. One mistake though: "Horror Smash" in the newspaper headline is not a phrase you would see in an American newspaper. It's Australian.The movie starts out alright, but the comic tone at the beginning sadly is not the tone of much of the movie. Then the film tries to be more than it is. Near the end there was this heavy emotional scene where the viewers are supposed to be moved and cry with the characters, but it just didn't work. The "Horror Smash" accident scene around which a lot of the story revolves actually looked pretty minor and how anyone could have possibly been hurt is hard to imagine.This film has some stellar reviews by IMDb users so far. Look closely and you'll see a lot of those reviewers have never reviewed another film. Gotta make you suspicious. Maybe if you are closely tied to the production, you would really like to believe it is a monumental movie, but it isn't.