FuzzyTagz If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Leofwine_draca This is a modern-day western which shocks the viewer with its heady doses of on screen violence and enthrals the audience with a simple, effective plot line. Essentially, the story involves three brothers and the lawman trying to bring them to justice; it sounds straightforward on the page, but Nick Cave's screenplay works hard to establish characters and the result is a film with fully three-dimensional people. It's hard to find anything to criticise about this production; everything, from the technical qualities to the acting, ranges from the above-average to the excellent. There's a truly haunting soundtrack which accompanies the excellent cinematography, showing the harshness of the Australian outback, and the eerie, desolate atmosphere is second to none.The violence in the film is brutal and shocking, coming in short, unexpected bursts. It's also original, with little in the way of stand-offs and shoot-outs. This is a film where people are painted in shades of grey and everybody has to face the repercussions of their own actions. Ray Winstone gives the standout performance as the violent lawman who kicks the plot off; he seems to be a villain, but the film soon reveals his humanity as well, and he steals every scene with his powerful performance that's full of emotion. Guy Pearce is the nominal hero, and he's far from attractive: lean, almost half-hearted, and hairy and dirty, his is the iconic man-with-no-name type role. The movie has fun showing his character, keeping the audience guessing as to his true intentions, and his actions at the end are great – this film ends on a real high with a fitting climax that just works and works. Emily Watson is also very good and moving as Winstone's put-upon wife.Of the rest of the supporting players, Danny Huston excels in his small role as the violent elder brother; John Hurt has fun hamming it up in a cameo appearance as a bounty hunter, and David Wenham plays snivelling evil as a moustachioed pencil-pusher. Essentially this film stands as a series of iconic images and set-pieces, some of which are burnt into my mind even now: the aborigine's head exploding against the skyline, the brutality of the climax; the whipping scene, which is much less gory but somehow makes more of an impact than the one in THE PASSION OF THE Christ. Altogether this is a stylish, excellently-made modern-day western with plenty of reasons to be watched.

FedRev The Proposition is a Western that takes place in the Australian outback in the 1880s. It is brutal, violent, and uncompromising, but also beautiful and thought provoking. It primarily examines the impulse among imperialists to "civilize" the lands they occupy through violence. The film's narrative flows through a "proposition" made by a local sheriff to a captured criminal. He must track down his outlaw older brother and kill him, or else his younger brother, who was also captured, will be executed. Interestingly, this proposition is essentially a sub-plot in a larger story about one civilization attempting to impose itself upon another, and the brutal oppression required to do that. The film perfectly illustrates this with the image of a perfectly manicured upper-class British home, surrounded by harsh desert populated by an indigenous Aboriginal people. The Proposition is an experience of pure cinema, fully utilizing image, sound, and music to achieve an artistic vision that can only be film.

JohnLeeT While this film is nothing extraordinary, Ms. Emily Watson certainly is and she is absolutely brilliant in what easily could have been a throwaway role. It was a fantastically imaginative casting choice by the director to choose Watson as what he probably wished would be more than the typical "frontier wife." He got much, much more as Emily Watson gives a performance of subtle sexuality, passion, and courage. In doing so, she does what she usually does and makes this film her own. It takes tremendous talent and incredible power for her to step forth from this group of male actors and in beautiful fashion demonstrate her exceptionality as an artist. She breathes life into what could have been a stale stereotype and sets fire to the screen in several stupendous scenes. The only problem is she is underused and the camera spends too little time on her glowing face and blinding cinematic presence. However, what she does with the camera time she is given is miraculous and for that reason this film is a 10. Watson is indeed the most powerfully talented and divinely gifted actor working in cinema today and she continues to astonish audiences with each succeeding performance in a way that no other actor can touch.

mformoviesandmore The Aussies have made some great movies. One with a seemingly simple plot and few actors would be The Interview.This movie has a simple plot, few actors, and the great outback as a backdrop. And for me, that's all it has.Slow. Predictable. Revenge movie.Guy Pearce couldn't save this one. Ray Winstone is seldom very good. The others were adequate, but not memorable.The script had nothing to offer.The storytelling was basic, and jumped a few times.I wanted to at least give it six, but couldn't.