Protraph Lack of good storyline.

Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

Bluebell Alcock Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

Candida It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

esmorr Not a bad storyline for this picture, but nothing puts me off like a bunch of Hollywood stars trying to put on the Aussie accent, a hard job for anyone not born or brought up here. Such attempts usually fail dismally and this is no exception. Peter Ustinov, Ronald Fraser and Glynis Johns seem to be the only ones who don't attempt it, and I take my hat off to them for not doing so - they obviously knew their limitations. Notably, you can hear Robert Mitchum often starting to fall back into his familiar American lilt and you wish that he would just start talking normally. He should not have bothered making the attempt to imitate our laconic drawl as he's just not up to it. I would have enjoyed this movie more if the overseas imports had stuck to their own ways of talking, and it still would have worked - many overseas people came to Oz in generations past to make a new life, so the American drawl and the Pommy rounded vowels would not have been out of place at all. Thankfully, there are some genuine Aussie stalwarts such as the great Chips Rafferty holding up the realism of our speech, so all is not completely lost. The rest of this picture is reasonable enough with a decent depiction of outback life the way it used to be, and what the mob of shearers get up to from day to day is pretty typical of what really went on before the advent of the mobile phone and the portable computer. There are even, typically, moments of a comical air from Mr Ustinov. This picture is light viewing and not hard to watch at all. A few marks off for the silly accents, but otherwise this is an enjoyable family movie. Here are a few translations for you poor bastards who aren't Aussies and don't know what's being talked about in this movie: "Darl" - short for darling; "Dingo" - Aussie native dog. They hunt in packs but aren't worth two bob, (are cowards), if confronted on their own; "Jumbuck" or "Wooly Jumper" - a sheep; "Two-up" - a traditional Aussie gambling game.

MartinHafer I would love to sit and watch this film with an Aussie. That's because as an American, I don't know enough to know how accurate this movie is--and if the accents of all the non-Australians in the leads are even close to being correct.This film is about a family of migrant workers--not a lazy 'sundowner' (see the IMDb trivia for more on this). They travel across Australia driving and shearing sheep to make a few quid--always on the move and no permanent home of their own. As for the husband (Robert Mitchum), he loves this sort of life with few responsibilities. But the wife (Deborah Kerr) is getting tired and sees a need to settle down and finally have a house of their own--especially since their son is getting older and wants some permanence in his life. The vast majority of the film, though, is almost like a documentary--showing what the life is like--like you get a little window into their migrant ways.This is a well made film. The acting, direction and music are all quite nice. My only serious qualm is that the film is slow and I know many folks simply wouldn't sit still for such a seemingly mundane plot. But, if you are patient, it's well worth your time.

screenman There was a time about 30 years ago when 'The Sundowners' seemed to be on television every month. Not any more.And that's a pity, because it's a great, sprawling story about the life of itinerant workers in the Australian Bush.Robert Mitchum at his laid-back blokish best and Deborah Kerr lead a great character-driven cast of slightly misfit individuals who follow the trail of ad-hoc labour. It's a feel-good movie which - like all feel-good movies - has lots of little moral things to say. But they are never overstated. There are no bad eggs, no serious villains, just lots of harmless adventures with some serious and comic interplay. It's almost like a musical with the songs removed.'Sundowners' is a long movie, too, for what it has to say. Not so much a day-in-the-life as a year-in-the-life of this married couple and their youthful teenage son. She is getting tired of the endless trail, of living in a wagon and a tent. She wants a house. He doesn't. He likes the variety and vagary. He hasn't 'dunroamin'.There are some splendid scenes of post-colonial small-town Australian life before the nation got stroppy and wanted to become an antipodean USA. Cinematography is sweeping and wonderful.If you're a third-millennium city slicker weened on computer shoot-'em-ups, who can't live without an I-Pad and two mobile phones, then this gradually evolving experience jogging along at cart-horse speed is going to seem slow, uneventful and perhaps rather boring. However, if you can enjoy a piece of well-acted, character-driven drama, that offers a kindly take upon simple human affairs, I think you will find this uplifting and worth the effort.

moonspinner55 Director Fred Zinnemann helmed this wonderful screen-version of Jon Cleary's book about an Australian sheepherder who is at odds with his headstrong wife: he wants to keep moving, traveling from place to place without putting down roots, while she would prefer settling down and giving their teenage son a chance to make friends. Richly-textured comedy-drama comes together splendidly after an awkward beginning, with well-matched Deborah Kerr and Robert Mitchum (reunited from 1957's "Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison") doing terrific work in the leads, Peter Ustinov equally fine as a bachelor they meet along the way. A lengthy film, but never a boring one, with beautiful photography and memorable characters and set-pieces. ***1/2 from ****