A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

While Elton has done some great work in the past, and is great with comedy, its mixing it with a ham fisted overt pro refugee message that unfortunately lets this movie down. Sadly lots of aspects of it could have been great, but the exagerated grandad, right from the get go, sprouting two dimensional anti refugee diatrine... who then magically sees the error of his ways was a bit childish and seems to assume the audience is a bit daft and need their story told to them in obvious parables.Szubanksi, Caton, Mailman and Waters all do a sterling job... just a shame the movie hinges on the audience being told what most of us already know, and those that don't, certainly won't be changing their mind because of this.

Oh dear. That this was written and directed by someone - Ben Elton - that I used to love and admire so much is bitterly disappointing. It has all the hallmarks of a twee, naive Australian comedy that can be done entertainingly - witness "The Castle" or "Muriel's Wedding" - but is more often than not a cringe-worthy embarrassment filled with poor dialogue, manufactured awkward script and atrocious acting.Ben Elton is for me the man who saved Blackadder - his input into Series 2 lifted the show and who displayed socially progressive views early in his career, but this bloated, embarrassing thief of time is indicative of how far Elton has fallen. I can't fault the actors: they had such appalling dialogue I swear I could see in their eyes a fear and horror that their careers could be over as the words left their lips.I am fully supportive of the themes in the film - the need for kindness and compassion in society, taking care of refugees and supporting Aboriginal land rights but the absolute lack of subtlety and the preaching smarmy way these things were delivered made me recoil.

Over three years, the same people attend a music festival Westival, staged in rural outback Western Australia and during this time relationships change and evolve. The main storyline concentrates on the love story between Keevy (Rebecca Breeds), a down to earth pub band fiddler, and theremin player Roland (Robert Sheehan), together they meet at the festival. Roland encourages Keevy to apply to a music conservatorium which causes great drama, especially with Keevy's father played by John Waters. There are great supporting characters in the film, such as Michael Caton, who plays a racist and Magda Szubanski who is the community radio announcer and Deborah Mailman who plays a therapist who runs the festival's Alcoholics Anonymous sessions. As a secondary storyline, the film concentrates on some aspects of contemporary Australian society such as the plight of refugees left in unlimited detention and the problems some Aboriginals experience in their communities. The film was beautifully shot, capturing the beautiful Aussie outback in rural Western Australia. It also ticked all the boxes which is a good step forward in terms of diversity, portraying Multicultural Australia in film. My only question is, "Did the filmmaker concentrate on ticking all the boxes more so than creating a more organic storyline?"  Ben Elton says, "The idea for Three Summers came about during one of my family trips to the Fairbridge Folk Festival in WA. I was sitting in the bar tent doing some people watching, there's such a rich tapestry of humanity at these sorts of family music events and so much comedy. People from different walks of life suddenly living in a field together with only sheets of canvas and polyester between them. Everybody's equal in the queue for the portaloos!"Three Summers' Aussie soundtrack includes tracks by Little Birdy, Dan Sultan, the John Butler Trio, Xavier Rudd, Gotye, Sarah Blasko , Dr. G. Yunupingu and many more.The Run time 102 minutes6.5/10

Ben Elton has done a terrific job of capturing everyday Australians; the good and the bad. This movie had so many of laughs along with serious moments. I find that some movies depend on big names to carry it but this is just not the case with Three Summers. I wonder how many takes they had for some of the scenes with Magda Szubanski. Her dialog was hilarious and she did it with a straight face but I don't know how. Peter Rowsthorn did the same scene 3 times in the movie and it just got funnier and funnier. Michael Caton did such a credible job of the older bigoted Australian that all I could see was my father-in-law until the turnaround at the end. I could go on and on but I don't want to spoil it. Go see it for yourself. There's something for everyone; young and old. I haven't even mentioned the music. Go see it for yourself. I'm getting the DVD when it comes out. I just loved it. It's going to be a classic, like The Dish.