One of my all time favorites.

Beautiful, moving film.

A different way of telling a story

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

In my family people who don't face up to their responsibilities, who leave suddenly when confronted, are known as bolters. My Aunt Mary, an extreme eccentric, was a bolter. A heart breaker and also a sudden breaker of leases, she'd turn up 500 miles away in another job if some man was getting too keen. She developed doin' the bolt into an art form. She managed that for 70 years!Eddie (Ben Mendelsohn) in Mullet is a bolter. He's about thirty and has unexpectedly turned up in his small town. We find that he'd broken at least two hearts by leaving three years before and it seems that he's not too interested in changing his ways. Eddie, known as Mullet, is selfish and spoilt but sufficiently self reliant to eak a living catching mullet in the local creeks while living alone in a clapped out caravan. He used to be a local rugby league star, destined for the big time in Sydney. But again he bolted.Mullet is set in a small coastal town south of Sydney. The locals aren't particularly happy even if the town looks very pretty. Mullet is scenic.His parents (Kris McQuade and Tony Barry) are malcontents who have formed an alliance based on not talking directly to each other. His brother (Andrew S. Gilbert) is a local cop and other friends include Tully (Suzie Porter) and Kay (Belinda McClory). Mullet's sister is played very nicely by Peta Brady. In fact all of the performances are very good, its just a shame that they weren't able to grace a more worthy script.Mullet is the third film from director David Caesar after Greenkeeping and Idiot Box. It's only about 90 minutes long but still seems to be padded by a profusion of meaningless set up shots that lead nowhere and a plot with far too little happening.It's all well and good to establish a scene or a mood with panning shots but lit buildings and front yards only retain a limited appeal. Mullet does have a terrifically moody sound track from Paul Healy.But it's as if the scriptwriter for Mullet had done the bolt, which is a little strange because David Caesar also wrote this muddy little piece.3 Underwritten Flys out of 5.

I went to this film with high expectations. While I'm not a fan of David Ceaser's work, I had heard positive reviews from both critics and friends whose opinions I usually agree with. Sadly, either they or I must have seen a different film.I found the film slow, unrealistic and with continuity holes so large you could drive a truck through them. The characters' personalities were either rammed down your throat or not explained at all.While I have not spent much time in rural Australia, the film did not strike me (nor any of my friends who have all lived in the country) as an accurate depiction of country town life. I also felt that the emphasis on the naivety of the people living in the area (such as Mullet's father being excited about having a flush toilet) was patronising. In addition, the town is only a couple of hours from Sydney - hardly the outback. I felt this was another example of Sydney-centric film making, showing anyone who lives outside of the inner city as a hick who is overwhelmed by the possibility of going to Sydney, let alone actually living there.I could go on, but I can't be bothered. It disappoints me that this film has received such good reviews. I was hoping that these reviews were based on the film actually being a good production, rather than being from the 'Oh but it's Australian so we should give it a good review' camp. Sadly this does not seem to be the case.

I got to see it for nix as a preview as well (like Aussie Stud). But I went back the next day to pay to see it again.As an Australian, its tremendously validating to see characters you recognise and understand at a level you otherwise seldom encounter.Its a bit unlikely that the value will be worth much in the hands of someone not steeped in the local culture. It does have its merits regardless, but the film would fall into the interesting but not wildly successful category I imagine.The plot is thin, but this pics not about plot, its about characters. And I don't generally worry about how pictures portray the real people they represent, I just enjoy the movie.And I enjoyed this one...

Mullet is a wonderful piece of Australian cinema.It almost perfectly captures laconic Australian humour, as its characters try to figure out how to live with each other, even if they're not always easy to deal with.Great performances from all involved, and good laughs along the way.Destined to become a minor classic.