Karry
Best movie of this year hands down!
Erica Derrick
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
grantss
Embarrassing.Between making great crime-dramas (eg Animal Kingdom, Snowtown), Australia makes some horrendously bad movies. Pretentious dramas (eg Jindabyne), low-brow comedies (eg the Wogboy) and its cousin, the intended-to-be-folksy-but-really-quite-stupid comedy. This is one of the latter.Watched this because it involved cricket, and almost immediately regretted it. It has some good moments - some cricket in-jokes (eg the Muralitharan = chucker observation and bowling a beer underarm to a New Zealander) and some other laugh-out-loud moments - but these are few and far between. This is seriously bad.Every stereotype is employed, every cliché abused in this farce. The writers and director could not have made the characters more of caricatures of Australians and English if they tried. The plot, for lack of a better word, is silly and contrived. It's as if they wanted to be as predictable and unoriginal as possible.Embarrassing to watch, especially if you're Australian. A movie made to appeal to the lowest common denominator.
kenosull
A mate in Australia recommended this movie to me and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's light-hearted and silly and packed with loads of subtle cricket references (Jardine, Dexter, Harlequin caps, impersonations of famous commentators etc.) which keeps the narrative moving along at a very predictable but steady pace. The story is a bit weak but it's never less than highly entertaining. At times, the stereotypes are a little obvious but remember folks that this is a COMEDY. It's meant to be funny and in the manner of the typical Australian cinematic style (and its refreshing non-conformity to a PC strait-jacket), it entertains without offending.
Andy Francis Fernandes
Backyard Ashes looks like a low budget movie with a big budget relation to real life. Being an Indian and playing cricket with friends and family, I can truly relate to this movie. This was my 1st Australian movie that I have watched and I must admit it hit the right cords. Big budget movies generally focus more on the big names but this focused on everyone in the movie. It was a simple yet very honest movie. Loved ones getting together, playing a good game of cricket, the annoying and unfriendly neighbors, the old couple upstairs, the entire locality and the craziness that comes along. Its a good watch for a nice lazy afternoon....
ptb-8
This very funny backyard movie is a revelation in home grown film making. A National past time in Australia is Backyard Cricket. Also, Internationally each year teams play in huge stadiums and it is all televised daily across Summer. For anyone who does not know Cricket, especially in the USA, this film won't play well. But for British and probably Indian / Pakistani families, this film will be a scream Here is a film that combines working class comedy and family with sharp satire and a lot of Aussie suburban sports slang most successfully. Imagine THE FULL MONTY mixed with THE CASTLE and KENNY and played in a backyard during a game of Neighbour/Employer cricket. I personally do not like cricket and could not care less about it on TV and in matches that go for days. However, this hilarious 85 minute micro movie transcends all barriers just by being funny and good natured. A strong silly script, ripe performances and sunny satire, nice kids and surprising digital sharp picture and sound, BACKYARD ASHES is a school holiday movie delight and easy to have the family laughing out loud. A big hit in regional cinemas, suburban audiences will also lap it up if given the chance.
