Hottoceame The Age of Commercialism

SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Bumpy Chip It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

psinclair-1 Don't you just love it when you're searching for some escapism and you accidentally come across a movie that you've never heard of and are impressed by it from start to finish. This movie is classy because it takes an old, predictable story line but makes you want to keep watching simply because of the quality of the film making. The acting is fantastic. The entire cast are totally believable (where are all these brilliant Aussie actors hiding?)The tension and suspense in the direction is enthralling. The dialogue is underplayed and the ominous cool of modern urban multiculturalism is portrayed with artistry. Great cast, script and especially insightful direction. Loved it!

rettercritical I am an Australian and in our country, we are pretty suspicious of our own crime and genre films. There is always something not quite right. they either imitate American cinema, have our local dialogue painfully wrong or just get details totally off the mark. they can also have mediocre production values or poor style and direction. Chopper is perhaps the best Australian film of the Genre. It got the detail right and could be taken seriously. Lately, our TV has been dominated with Australian "true crime" stories such as the Underbelly series. people love the salacious content and real life figures (often dead in real-life from gang-land murders) being depicted on screen. Unfortunately Its pretty crap made for TV entertainment.The Cedar Boys is a low budget film entry into the genre. I was skeptical going in but its honestly quite a nice little gem.The film revolves around a few guys in the Lebanese community who deal drugs. One naive guy in the group, motivated by impressing a girl with cocaine and raising cash for his Brothers court appeal, finds a way of getting a cheap stash of drugs. This requires stealing them from another dealer, who isn't home and that is pretty much the set up.What I liked about the film was it kept things pretty low-key. it didn't go over the top with stereotypes, ramp up any unnecessary drama or action. Its an efficient and mostly tight genre piece that becomes more satisfying and engrossing as it goes along. The protagonist is perfectly alright in the role of the mostly good natured guy going bad but his two collaborators (one cocky the other understated) are really excellent. There are bits and pieces that don't work, shots that are not perfect but the shooting schedule was 26 days and that is a record for an Australian feature film. I think the briskness of the shoot mostly worked in its favor, giving a pretty fresh and organic feel.What works is the low-budget. The locations are real and the shooting is mostly an effective doco style approach. I didn't like the constant green tones in the colour scheme though. it is a look used in too many films.As I said the story unfolds and becomes more interesting as things sharpen up to a totally satisfying climax. I enjoyed this film because of being surprised at how well made it was. reading the synopsis, I was expecting a cringe-fest and wasn't going to check it out at all. I switched over to the station it was playing on and it ended up being a worthy experience. Us Australians love to get the knives out, tearing apart Aussie films and often for good reason but I can honestly say this is worth watching. The secret to these films being successful is often a low budget and being forced to do most of it for real, avoiding clichés and often getting inexperienced actors that already inhabit a look and feel you want. It can bring authenticity which the genre otherwise lacks.

LaowaiGuy Cedar Boys manages to be intriguing and disappointing at the same time. It is an interesting story portraying Australian youths without including surfers, dingoes or Aborigines, which was a welcome change. It was also interesting to see how the former Lebanonese citizens are able to adapt to a new society where employment options are limited especially for the teenagers or young adults.They live in a world where all the opportunities for a successful future seem to be afforded to only the non-immigrant population especially the rich, beautiful, white people. Immigrants seem to have little chance to survive without resorting to committing crimes such as selling drugs or committing crimes. How will they fight the urge to join their friends and a few family members in a exciting yet dangerous life of illicit behavior? The protagonist of the story; Tarek (Les Chantery), tries to live the best of both worlds. He wants to maintain his squeaky-clean, hardworking image in front of his parents and little sister while desperately wanting to be accepted by the rich and famous who frequent some of Sydney's nightclubs.Tarek is joined by his friend Nadil (Buddy Dannoun) and by a small-time, drug-dealing associate Sam (Waddah Sari) in a quest to find fame and fortune. Unfortunately, they choose to mess with the wrong people. They become entangled with local drug dealers who have little appreciation for their aspirations for a glamorous, care-free lives.This small budget film can not manage to provide the intensity and emotion that should occur when these two groups collide. The established drug dealers seem mostly dismayed or slightly annoyed that a new gang has encroached their territory. They don't inflict the type of damage necessary to send a message to their rivals and in the process the audience can not be fully engaged in Tarek and his friends' plight. Being slapped around a little by their enemies doesn't convey the fear that these people must have felt in a similar real-life situation. This leaves the viewer less involved than they should be.The poor camera work also hampers this film. Sometimes scenes are shown with people talking yet you can't see their faces until the cameraman slowly backs out. This doesn't seem to be a deliberate way to build tension, just a lack of skill by the camera operator. Quick pan shots and choppy editing do a disservice to the film. It would have been more enjoyable if the producers had managed to spend a little more money in order to provide a quality product.Cedar Boys had an opportunity to be an excellent film, but fell short of greatness.

Scot Free Okay, I think the question IS should we or should we not spend our time to watch this movie. Yes, especially since the movie market seems constantly flooded with new material. Many big budget, "A List" actor films spend advert money hoping for blockbusters. This Cedar Boys film is more of a low budget writer/director film. (Low budget being around 1.5 million contrasted with a few thousand micro-budget "friends and family" budgets like the "Blair Witch" project.) This writer/director went to an Australian film school, likely made connections and played the system to get state funding et cetera. Congratulations for maintaining some integrity this money/finance driven "Hollywood" industry (where playing the money game often devastates creativity). Okay, now to my critique and 7.5 stars. I chose to watch the film because the multicultural messages appeals to my avid travel/explorative sensibilities. (Though I've spend years backpacking the globe, I've never actually done Australia and always enjoy some insight into this country.) Even through main characters look they are trying to fit in as Lebanese (i.e. Middle Eastern), the attitudes can relate to many who dress up, go out and sometimes even do drugs to fit in. The writer director appears to do a somewhat realistic representation of cocaine which the "hot" white-girl wanted … leading into a relationship with the girl who lied about being an designer and was actually a stripper. Then the movie surrounds the theft and subsequent selling 1000's of white pills. They appeared to be called "Euro" pills. Even though some of the characters appear like they may be on the pills, I do not notice what type of drugs, and with this if there are any effects, any noticeable personality changes of these characters being on the drugs. Note that cocaine is clearly represented but are the other drugs some type of steroid, speed or MDMA/MDA/X. I think that a bit more sensitivity to the drug could relate to viewers who may have experienced or can relate to drugs. This gets to the next overarching theme that "crime doesn't pay." This theme is done pretty well. Good natured kids (out of high school and working) get involved in more serious crimes which leads to the murder of main character. I also liked the portrayal of the older brother who was in jail. I liked the multicultural, religious effect of the character doing Salat prayer. (The Muslim prayer on a prayer carpet in a prison cell which is shown a couple times). I also like the ending where this brother appeared to kill the fellow prisoner which did not keep his apparent promise. The main character, younger brother of the prisoner ended up murdered. This is a nice ending that makes us think about right and wrong (also the multi-cultural Middle Eastern theme relating to vendettas).In conclusion I will say that I also like the portrayal of close family bonds where most of the kids were living with their parents and tried to respect a level of family values. The writer/director dedicated the movie to his Mother who was sick and died shortly after the movie was done. So, another positive surrounds a more realistic, seemingly multicultural presentation of family ties. Often crime hurts the families most. Good job on the movie and good luck in the future. (Note, maybe look for another screenwriter to collaborate and bring some potentially new material.) Thumbs Up, Scot