The Black Balloon

source: The Black Balloon

Well I hate to say it,but another very average offering from the Australian film industry, once more gazing into Australians , own navel. How many times has this story already been told ? A claustrophobic, kitchen sink type tale of two brothers, one "normal" , one not so normal. This scenario has been played out numerous times before and on a couple of occasions much better than this one . Collette plays her usual, vaguely scruffy, vaguely down trodden female role she seems trapped within,again nothing new being said . This one should have been left on the shelf, for true Aussie film obsessives only, can't imagine many but the home market would rave over this plain fare, very parochial indeed.

...and I watch quite many movies, I tell you. So, did anyone understand what this absolutely awful movie was about? Because I didn't. It was luck that I didn't watch this awful abomination in the theater, so I had a DVD at home and thus possessed this ultra necessary ability to skip or turn it off straightaway. This is a true, thick, loud abomination of a film which screams for one outcome - to be deemed worst. Australian filmmakers can do fine films but in this case they failed at all possible levels - the plot was murky and downright dull, the performance was so poor you had to rub your eyes, the cringe-worthy scenes came in so often that I nearly vomited and I am not that easy to be driven to throwing up. Autism? A serious study of a case? Nay, in fact what we saw was a sick unbearable array of horrid uneasy moments that were simply not to be shot at all. Gemma Ward. Yes, she is awesome lady - long legs, great body, sweet smile, elfish face. This is all, kids. You can go to bed, as she offered nothing except hew looks but looks never save the weak plot. She is simply weak and not convincing in any way. The rest? Just skip it - the movie seemed to slide along a surface never getting any deeper or decent. The verdict - cringe-worthy array of sick moments, shallow plot and terrible film. Zero is the only rating for this piece of utter trash.

This true to life film is a inside glimpse into a family that is, at its core, held together by the mother. Toni Collette plays the mother of an autistic son. Her performance is real and a driving force in the film. Her autistic son Charlie is a trial for the entire family and for his mother, whose life is so static and day in day out, she has come to accept Charlie for the person he is and she does this through simple love. At the center of the story is the other son, Thomas (Rhys Wakefield) and his burden of keeping his brother Charlie a secret and his further burdens of family life. When father Simon is away from the home it is Thomas who tries to run the household. Charlie is played by Luke Ford who gives a wonderful performance (remember him from The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor). Their family struggles with bouts of seeming normalcy and shocking bits of harsh truth and bitter reality. Thomas develops a strained relationship with a girl that is nice to him. This girl, Jackie (Gemma Ward) is striking and upon making it clear that she likes Thomas finds that he doesn't know how to deal with this. Both solid performances by Gemma Ward, a model, and Rhys Wakefield with his truthful, from the gut acting. Written and directed by Elissa Down, who has two autistic brothers in real life, obviously brings her experiences to bear and is innately able to bring pressure to this trouble torn family while bringing out some very emotional love. The winner of this film is Toni Collete whose acting through the turmoil is completely convincing. The acting together with a strong script really make this a movie worth seeing.

This is one of the best films i have ever seen... I recommend it to anyone. Never before have I ever been put on such a roller-coaster of emotion from mind-blowingly intense scenes to scenes which make me feel sick. Scenes that make me laugh and scenes which make me want to punch something. Rhys Wakefield portrays an adolescent teen amazingly. Which I found surprising looking at some of the acting skills from his fellow Home and Away actors (see Xavier in H&A, WHY IS HE THERE???). I saw the trailer and am a big fan of Toni Collette so decided to rent the film and was interested to see Rhys play a central character. The quality of directing took my breath away and I congratulate anyone involved in the production. I bought it straight away after renting and have watched it at least 5 times all with different people to show them one of the best films EVER MADE.

Spoiler: sort of..... I was okay with this film until about the 20 minute mark when the autistic boy starts playing with his own feces. And it's not just one quick scene either. It carries on through a sequence that lasts a good five minutes. I'm just not that dedicated to Australian cinema. And even if you take that scene out, this thing really doesn't come across as a good advertisement for Australian film. It's the same old story we always see about a quaint little family drama that fundamentally bores the living day lights out of anyone who isn't Megan Spencer.

This film is an effective coming-of-age drama with the backdrop of autism. Erik Thomson plays a shy 16 year old who's constantly embarrassed by his severely autistic brother, an excellent Luke Ford. Toni Collette plays the pregnant mother and is solid as usual. The drama never becomes morose and there's a playful tone running through the film. Some events are predictable (like the taunting by class-mates and social awkwardness) but they are probably part and parcel of every coming of age drama. The film shows in harrowing detail what it's like to take care of someone with severe autism. Informative and worth watching. Overall 7/10

Australian filmmaker Elissa Down's THE BLACK BALLOON is a thoughtful film, down to earth with no apology in depicting a close-knit family of four (Toni Collette as Mom who is pregnant with a fifth member coming, Erik Thomson as Dad whose army life demanded constant moving, and two teenage sons: Luke Ford as Charlie the autistic one who is older in age but not in behavior, and Rhys Wakefield as baby-face Thomas in his uneasy growing teen period) - taking on living with autistic challenges everyday (sometimes by the moment). It is a coming of age story revolving around 17-year old Thomas, how he deals with the people around him: his brother Charlie, Mom and Dad, schoolmates, new friends and neighbors. There is more than meets the eye. Thomas seems to be battling inner conflicts, dilemmas he's reluctant to confront: "Will Charlie ever be normal?" he asked. "Charlie is not my problem," he shouted. Mom and Dad are both very patient and tolerant. The family's togetherness is very much held by a determined mother (again, brilliantly portrayed by Toni Collette) that would not 'give up' on her eldest, and Charlie is treated just like any child having his (normal) tantrums and (unpredictable) antics. As the film progresses, we feel for Thomas' frustration with Charlie, and welcome the relief of his delights with popular girl at school, Jackie (Gemma Ward gave an endearing portrayal) who has no problem hanging out with both Thomas and Charlie. She (from a single-Dad family) accepted Charlie with equal normalcy and seemed to fit into Thomas' family rather well. Like any family life, there are turn of events: Mom has to be 'confined to bed' at the hospital prior to birth of baby, so Dad and Thomas are left with the charge to handling Charlie's day to day needs - a learning curve that Thomas didn't expect. Through the ups and downs (Thomas' driving lesson with Dad in his car, Thomas' birthday family celebration 'blow out' with Jackie present), anguish and laughter (yes, that happens, if only we can laugh it off and let go more often), a new family member did arrive, and at Charlie's school performance, Thomas had his coming of age challenges and came through understanding his brother Charlie more. Director Down spares us no 'mushy' sentiments or Hollywood 'feel good' pressures - she delivered a bold and assured script (co-written with Jimmy Jack, telling like it is from her personal experience with two autistic brothers) and gave us a film we can appreciate the possible family warmth that can be steadfastly generated in challenging circumstances. "The Black Balloon" has hardly the hint of a debut feature from a talented filmmaker to watch, Elissa Down. The casting of Luke Ford and Rhys Wakefield paired as the two brothers is a godsend, indeed. Convincing performances all round. Enjoy also the interesting opening credits: at the corner of your eyes, you could notice there are 'extraneous' words or obvious name labels of things within each frame, e.g., grass, sky, wall, jeans, fence - as the credits roll on. Ah, it's for the sake of Charlie, the autistic brother and the rest of the family, too.

Life isn't easy for Thomas. Living as the younger brother in a family of four, with a fifth on the way is hard enough to begin with. It's even worse when the older brother is severely autistic and unable to care for himself in any way. So, quite naturally, Thomas struggles with growing up. Films dealing with family lives like this only work when they show all the sides to a story and this one does it well. All the members of the family are properly introduced and their interaction is done well enough to give the impression that it is a perfectly normal family, which has a specific difficulty added to it. The complexities of living with a mentally handicapped person are brought out well enough without ever being overly sentimental and, as far as I know from the interaction I have had with several autistic people, real enough. All in all it is a real good film about growing up and growing up with a tremendous challenge making it harder on you. I loved it, and even more so because I know what Thomas went through from personal experience.

This movie, while accurate, is the most disturbing piece of cinematography on autism that I've ever seen. I have personal experience with autism, my sister and I had to leave the theater in the middle of the movie because it so accurately portrays the life of a family that has experience with autism. I would not recommend this movie. I think this would be helpful for people who would like to understand autism better. But people who have children or siblings with autism should avoid this movie, it's an emotional roller coaster which could prove to be too much on the more sensitive family members.