Bootmen

For years now Dein Perry has toured Australia and the world with a male tap-dancing company called "Tap Dogs". The dancing is rough, masculine and exhilarating. Fashioning a film around this act was a risky thing to do - but screenwriter Steve Worland has done a brilliant job. He has created a believable and moving story about a group of young men growing up in the industrial city of Newcastle - and the drive of one of them to form a tap-dancing troupe. Then Dein Perry, directing his first feature film, gives the whole film the exhilarating energy he gives his stage work, with Steve Mason's dazzling cinematography aiding him at every turn. Perry's choreography is no less brilliant and the result is a true film triumph, that I am sure is going to be a major hit all over the world. The entire cast is excellent - and two new stars will emerge in Adam Garcia and Sam Worthington. Garcia looks great, dances magnificently and gives a strong charismatic performance. Worthington is a powerful young actor - vulnerable, sexy and utterly real. Whatever you do, don't miss this mind-blowing movie experience! Aussie films rule!

What else can I say but wow! I thought the story was really good, not at all unbelievable. I loved the whole brother thing with Sean and Mitch, they were so typically Australian! Go the flannelettes! I was really there for the dancing (and Adam Garcia) and it took a while to get there, but i loved it when he dropped the hammer at the steelworks and heard the sound and as they say, the rest is history! It was awesome when they started putting the show together, there was so much energy! And when "that thing" happened with Mitch, that was really sad and I thought it was cool that Sean kept going with the Bootmen thing. Ok, the dancing... Once again...wow! I can't believe how good they were! When they started doing the more macho dancing I was totally covered in goosebumps! And the sound of the taps on metal! It was brilliant! The energy coming out of those dance scenes was overwhelming! So 10/10 on the dancing easy! Adam Garcia... What can I say, the man's a legend! Not only is he absolutely, totally, indescribably hot! but he's an awesome (and I mean AWESOME!) dancer! I'll have him over the guy from Riverdance any day! This is the first movie I have seen with Adam in it and I hope it won't be the last! In case I haven't made my thoughts on Adam clear, here it is nice and simple... HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! HOT! So an easy 10/10 for the totally delicious (and talented of course) Adam Garcia! The only tiny thing that brought it down was the not-so-spectacular dancing at the beginning, but that got better half way through. But I'd rather have dancing than dialogue! In short (ha!), brilliant movie, great dancing, great actors, great body (thank you Adam!) and enough energy to blow the roof off! I wanna see it again! (and again and again and again...)

'Bootmen' is a cross between 'The Full Monty' and 'Billy Elliot' but the comparisons have to stop there, as this film contains neither the depth nor the humor of the other two. It is one of the few Australian Films I have seen that, either purposefully or not, looks more like a Hollywood flick, and perhaps coincidentally it ranks lower than most Aussie films on my list. The characters are developed haphazardly, and the tone of the movie follows a similar chaotic path, with excellent dancing not quite making up for a weak script and a feeble, unoriginal plot. Although at parts moving or amusing (or occasionally both at once) the film as a whole lacks focus, and it could be seen as a way to bring the Directors talent as a choreographer into the limelight. Impressive dancing, but otherwise nothing special, and towards the end it appears to lose touch with reality.

Well, I've just seen Bootmen a second time, and let me say that its even better second time round! Seeing it twice really gives you the opportunity to focus on the stuff you missed out the first time. For example, I was looking at the smaller details instead of all the same stuff as the first time. I've just read my first review thing and I realised I said that dancing at the beginning was not so spectacular. I'm an idiot! I meant to say the acting! The acting wasnt so hot at the beginning but quickly picks up towards the middle. Again, the dancing was awesome, the actors were awesome and Adam Garcia is definitely beyond awesome! I love the man's hair! And I just realised that it is Dein Perry himself as that Anthony guy at that dance show in Sydney that Sean gets into. Awesome! Awesome! Awesome! Awesome! Awesome! Awesome! Awesome!

As a resident of Newcastle who is familiar with the Dein Perry story I was very interested in seeing this movie. The fact that it was shot in Newcastle and features a few Newcastle actors only increased my interest. As a local it was fantastic to see our often stereotyped city (we are the sixth largest Australian city) look as good as it does. They didn't just focus on the normal shots of the steel works or the beach, and they used references to places in Newie that only we could get. As a tap-dancing fan it was wonderful to see tap making its way into the cinema in a non-Fred Astaire way. As a movie fan it was great to note that something I assumed to be a chick-flick was actually a very blokey film with a bit of dancing thrown in. Perry and the crew have done a magnificent job in not only opening up the eyes of the world to tap-dancing they've also been wonderful in showing everyone a different side to Newcastle, while still maintaining what we are really about.

This is an absolutely amazing film. It's not like all other dancing movies. It's tap. And it's men. It's a cross between Billy Elliot, and The West Side Story. I LOVED the taps, it was so cool to watch. Adam is really hot, and Sam's not to bad either... The only bad thing I saw about this movie is that the role of the girl was not convincing enough for us to fall in-love with her, or even like her. There was nothing to like. I think they should have gotten someone with more personality for this part. But on the other hand, maybe another girl would have up-staged the wonderful Adam. I recommend it to anyone who likes dancing, a good movie, and hot guys.

This film was done to promote the Tap Dogs show and dance group, so don't expect complicated or sophisticated plot, cunning twists or even amazing acting. You can pretty much guess what happens, just from watching the trailer. There is nothing, plotwise, that hasn't been done before and the characters are all tried and tested stereotypes. Cinematography is solid and production quality is safe. There is a fair degree of bad language, which seems a touch out of place given that this film will appeal to a lot of young dance students. But none of this detracts from the basic underlying premise of the film... Basically, sit back, shut up and enjoy the fabulous tap dancing - That's what it's about and in that respect, it does NOT disappoint!!

After catching the last ten minutes of this on TV I got the Video in hopes I could share this AWESOME DANCING with friends and family, but the rest of the show was so bad I've had to forget that idea entirely! Sad! It could have inspired a lot of kids who will never be able to see it for the language alone! Unlike some think, not all people talk like that! It's a real shame writers/producers limit the viewers to the few who do! I think this movie should be reshot (even using the same actors/actresses) and "can" the vulgarity so the dance can shine through and reach an entirely different generation of kids with the verve of this wonderful dance presentation. This dancing could set their feet as well as their souls on fire!

The concept is good - to try to capture the style of the "Tap Dogs" and turn it into a feature film. Sadly, the transition to the big screen was not entirely successful. In order to reach the big tap finale, we had to wade through an hour and a half of paper thin plot - nice guy fails to make it in the big city, father-son conflict, brother-brother conflict and small scale organized crime racket. The quality of the acting left a bit to be desired (this is to be expected as the guys were selected for their tap ability, rather than their acting pedigree), and Sophie Lee was ... well, Sophie Lee (I'm yet to be convinced that she is an actor). The bleak industrial landscape and cinematography were quite good, as were the actors in the small supporting roles. So when push comes to shove - was the final tap spectacular worth sitting through the movie? Sure was, it's just a shame there wasn't a bit more of it.

Yeah, OK, Adam Garcia isn't the greatest actor, the story was predictable, but you can't help but sit threw this movie and not be shuffling your feet and tapping on things here and there. The performances from the cast vary. As i just mentioned Adam is not the most brilliant actor but there were times when i found myself feeling sorry for him. His character goes threw many emotional climaxes, i'd have to say the scene where he confronts his brother about sleeping with his girl was strong but then he let himself down in the kiss-and-make-up-scene. Sophie lee also could have done better than the performance she gave in this film but with a script that lacks any character depth, she had to work with what was given to her. Sam Worthington, i say the same thing as i said about lee, you can't work to your full potential when the script is what lets you down. One thing you have to remember about this film though is that it's a dance film and in the dance department, it definitely doesn't let you down. the scenes where Sean is dancing around the steel works, works so effectively and was a creative idea for how he comes up with the idea of using the steel works in his put-on show. H aving the tap dances dancing to a band was amazing. It added way more ompphhh and sent shivers down my spine. Adam Garcia is one great dancer. it's the final live show that he could show off his tap dancing abilities ( and i've developed a major crush on him after that:)) but then if you know about Adams dancing background (saturday night fever, hot shoe shuffle anyone?) then you would expect to see him burning up the floor and for you ladies, mind boggling eye candy. Overall, this film doesn't have action but it does have it's funny moments (aussie humor) definitely it's sad monument, and it really is just a coming-of-age-with-tap-shoes-on film.