Around the Block

source: Around the Block

Awesome movie I reckon. It has a wonderful story and great acting and it's way better than that show the block because it doesn't have that stupid foreman Keith and that massive dick Scott Scotty cam.

This is another teacher saves the underprivileged kid movie. Dino (Christina Ricci) is an American teacher working in Australia. She is engaged to Simon (Daniel Henshall) and has issues with him and PLOT SPOILER her sexual identity. She teaches 11th grade drama at a predominant Aboriginal school, "kids at risk." She plans on saving Liam Wood (Hunter Page-Lochard) by having him perform Hamlet. Liam has his own issues. His father (Matt Nable) is in jail. His brother Steve (Mark Coles Smith) is a hooligan. He has a love interest that doesn't develop. His uncle was killed and Steve wants Liam to help him perform an honor killing, something Liam is clearly not cut out for. The film also attempts to show that Hamlet has universal themes that transcend cultures. This is an okay film, but clearly not the best in the genre. It has one or two light scenes, but could of had some more. The girl/girl action could have been deleted. That was a WTF scene that didn't bode well with the rest of the film. Parental Guide: F-bomb. Brief FF sex scene. Brief nudity.

I watched this on Netflix streaming movies, mainly because I am a Ricci fan, I like her roles in all her movies. I found it a bit better than the low IMDb rating might suggest. Filmed in New South Wales, Australia. Christina Ricci, early 30s, is American Dino Chalmers. She traveled to Australia for a guy and she is working as a drama teacher at the local school mostly populated with students with indigenous parents. A yearly celebration is coming up and the school usually puts on an event, and it seems to always have been a Rugby match. Instead Chalmers proposes that the students put on a play instead. Against the odds that idea is accepted. So she decides they will put on a performance of Hamlet. The key student is teenage actor Hunter Page-Lochard as Liam. He is a good kid but his father is in prison and his older brother seems intent on following their dad into a life of violence. But Liam does not want to follow his dad's footsteps. He gets the title role as Hamlet. I really like this small movie, much of it seems realistic although being an American I don't really know. At one point near the end the teacher says "None of us choose to be born but we can choose to live." And that is really what the story is about, and mainly Liam deciding to make something of himself. SPOILERS: The dad in prison tells the older son who he found to be responsible for his incarceration. The older son decides to ambush him and kill him, but the 6-yr-old daughter witnesses it. Liam had gone along reluctantly as the getaway driver. Soon the cops were after all of them. The older brother decides to flee, their car wrecks, the brother tries to run through a field, when he turns to shoot the cops shoot and kill him. Hamlet is successfully performed and at the end the cops escort Liam away, but we have to believe that he will only suffer some sort of probation and be allowed to get back to developing a life with good choices.

Many people will see this as the stereotypical "rich white teacher reaches out to urban kids" film, but it worked for me as it adds a wrinkle to the old plot. Christina Ricci player her part well as the enthusiastic teacher; however, the side plot concerning her sexuality was far less interesting than the main play revolving around Liam and his family. What really made it work for me was integrating Hamlet into the story and loosely basing the kid's experience on the play. That does tip the viewer off that it will end in tragedy, but it keeps the ending more realistic as well. Spillane direction in Around the Block is great overall and just has a few cheesy scenes involving music montages. What bumps this from a below average movie to a slightly above average movie is Hunter Page-Lochard's acting. With any less, this movie could have been abysmal. He does a good, believable job and naturally acts out the part making this worth the view.

Just watch it! I have been TV less for 3 weeks and watching a lot of online films.I just dont understand the low scores, its like people are tearing these films apart and from what is a great movie they are finding things to dislike that dont even exist, maybe it is the reviewees own narrow mindedness or the urge to 'have their (damning) voice' heard. It's a beautiful film; the acting was super and the story about 'hope' in deciding your own path when life as it does makes it difficult. Don't read the miserable reviews from the film police, just watch it.

This isn't the first time Christina Ricci disappointed me, she's a great little actress but this isn't the best movie she has ever done in her film career. That's only just my opinion! I felt the movie was very confusing, are we concentrating on Christina Ricci's character or the boy. Even though the plot says it's about the boy but it's also about Dino Chalmers. Which one are we concentrating on here? Thanks to the movie making me bored, I did not get to see Christina Ricci's and Ruby Rose's love scene. Yeah it was my fault for not seeing it but really, Ruby Rose didn't seem to appear much. It would be far better off if they concentrating on one story and not have them lumped on top of each other! This movie is all over the shop, it seriously needs redecorating!

Over the years it's been good to see that Christina Ricci has not only stayed in control of herself but has stuck to good roles. Her appearances in movies like "The Ice Storm", "The Opposite of Sex" and "The Laramie Project" proved that she wasn't going to be another one of these child stars who turns into a train wreck. One of her latest efforts is "Around the Block", in which she plays a woman teaching poverty-stricken Australian children Shakespeare. I understand that the movie focuses partly on the 2004 Redfern riots, which resulted from the death of an Aboriginal boy. The movie gives one a sense of what things are like for Australia's indigenous population. The Aborigines are 1% of Australia's population but 40% of its prison population (this even though Australia's white population is descended from people sent to jail). But anyway, it's a really good movie. I recommend it.

I don't recall seeing Christina Ricci's face since when she was on The Good Wife and Pan Am back in 2012, so it's nice to see, two years later, she is still working. Though with this being your usual white Savior type film, it does make you wonder if this was really that good of a choice for her. Well, read below to find out. Characters & Story Dino (Christina Ricci) has just recently returned to Austrailia, after going to college there, due to her boyfriend Simon (Daniel Henshall). But, just because she may have moved to a different country for a man, don't think she doesn't have aspirations. Dino seems very into videography, and has a background just right for a local school, which mostly caters to indigenous kids, that is on its last leg. Enter Liam (Hunter Page-Lochard) who plays the poor, unfortunate student of which Dino focuses on. Liam lives with his mother and brother Steve (Mark Coles Smith), and his father is in jail. Though with how Steve is steering his life, and tries to steer Liam's, it seems eventually his mother maybe living in their home alone. But Dino tries to prevent this by getting Liam involved in her Hamlet production. However, with Steve wanting to pursue revenge for his uncle's death, and wanting Liam to help, will Dino get to save this one kid or will he fall through the cracks? Praise Honestly, when I was writing this I placed what is in the criticism as praise. But, thinking about it, honestly with every bit of praise I can fathom comes some form of disappointment. So while it is nice that Liam and Dino got some slightly developed stories, at the end of the day the film sort of ignores what would make two great movies on their own and sadly combines them. Criticism For those of you who watch Orange is the New Black, like that show this movie has characters which are, for a lack of a better term, people of color who are far more interesting than the white lead. Liam, for example, has quite a rich story that I wish was more focused on. For between the relationship he has with his family; his friendships, which are sadly unexplored; and this romance he has with Williemai (Madeline Madden), you can see a lot of what could have made the story a bit more compelling was traded in so that Ricci's character maintained dominance. And while it may sound like I'm implying Dino wasn't interesting, the truth of the matter is that I just felt that with the potential Dino and Liam's story had, mixing the two was just a waste for both of them. For Dino has had quite a life herself. Between her dad's suicide, lesbian affairs, and her being closeted, I feel like neither Liam nor Dino got justice for their stories for it was watered down into a white savior film. Overall: TV Viewing This is the type of film which simply has wasted potential. It has two perfectly good stories, both which warrant their own film, but in order to fit the mold of a white savior film both stories get diluted and end up ultimately disappointing. But, even with that said, the pieces we are given are interesting enough to warranting seeing this. So, this is being labeled as TV Viewing.

This film tells the story of two aboriginal brothers in Australia, whose lives diverges and disintegrates because of their different goals and values in life. "Around the Block" tells a touching story of two underprivileged teenagers in a deprived neighborhood. They got involved in a turmoil that they do not need to be in, and it is up to the drama teacher to do something to help them - by engaging one of the two teenagers to act in a school play. It is an engaging and touching story, especially because it makes you yearn for an ending which is different compared to the one shown. I think the acting by the two teenagers are good, and Christina Ricci made the right choice to star in this gem. She needs to be in good films after a string of not so good ones!