Ginger
Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.
SnoopyStyle
It's 1965 rural Australia. Danny Embling (Noah Taylor) is a student in an all-male boarding school. His stuttering and his looks leave him the target of bullying along with the abusive teachers. The other kids call him "Bird" as a taunt. In the neighbor all-girls school, Nicola Radcliffe (Nicole Kidman) is the lead girl. Thandiwe Adjewa (Thandie Newton) is the new girl and she's bullied for being black.All the characters are so ugly in this movie. It really puts me in the wrong mood for a comedy. It doesn't feel right as a drama either. I don't like the lead characters. Danny has a smugness about being a victim of bullying. Thandiwe also has a cold superiority about her. Nicola is surprising the most intriguing character of them all. It's tough to laugh at any of this and hard to feel for any of the characters.
Blake Peterson
A lake separates the male and female dormitories of Australia's rural St. Albans boarding school, but water can hardly part the flirtatious musk hovering in the air between windows. It's 1965, and love, fear, sexual desire, and whole-hearted awkwardness is radiating from the bodies of the students. Headmasters stalk the hallways, looking for a passerby to whip; pangs are repressed in favor of mild-mannered behavior. But as the students age, their romances flicker into a sudden burst of unbridled flame. Sooner or later, they have to leave their childhood fears behind — upcoming is adulthood.Flirting is a lyrical snapshot of the inelegant but lilting time in which innocence washes away and is replaced with uncomfortable, yet exciting, verisimilitude. It's a high school movie, but it can hardly be compared to the wispy transparency of its many clichéd rivals. It's not a one- note Weird Science pile or a sassy Mean Girls; it's more akin to The Breakfast Club, considering the thoughts and decisions of young adults and finding the beauty in their successes, in their flaws. Some teenagers are one-track-minded and beastly, but more are attentive. Flirting casts the immature rascals aside and puts a spotlight on the youths that contemplate the outcome of each and every decision. In that respect, the film is better because, for once, the youngsters once characterized by Anthony Michael Hall and Shirley Temple suddenly become introspective humans, not cartoons.Danny Embling (Noah Taylor) is a gangly 17-year-old with a stutter to get over. His head is too big for his body, his body is too small for his head, and the words that come out of his mouth don't sound as sophisticated as he would like. But he is a rebel, knowing that real- life mistakes aren't followed by an authoritative whipping and that math doesn't really matter in the long run. He idolizes Satre not only for his work but also for his poise, and he longs to break free from St. Albans so he can fully realize his many potentials.Thadiwe Adjewa (Thandie Newton), the exotic Ugandan-Kenyan-British daughter of a diplomat, has just arrived on the grounds, inadvertently inviting unwanted scrutiny from her female classmates. She is remarkably intelligent and effortlessly beautiful — perhaps she intimates the opposite sex, fuels the jealousy of her gawky roommates. When Danny and Thandiwe lock eyes at a rugby game one day, a spark ignites. His perceptive aura matches her cerebral wit — infatuation thrives. It doesn't take long before a mutual adoration erupts. They've never felt love like this before, and they're going to make it count for the few months they have together.The majority of teen movies believe they have to be self-deprecatingly funny or overly simple to be successful, completely unaware that purity is ultimately more winning than materialistic quotability. Teenagers are fascinating creatures, phenomenons of emotion, but films tend to liken them as a target of satire. A shame. A movie like Flirting vibrates with poignancy; in the process, I connected with its sensitive characters and, eventually, built enough of a relationship with them to a point where I felt the need to compare their hesitations and choices to my very own life. Duigan watches them move and applies their burgeoning ideals to even the hardest of moments; scenes, like the closing one (in which Danny and Thandiwe spend their last night together in a local hotel in order to properly say goodbye), defy expectations through their mannered receptiveness.A film like Flirting is easy to hold close to the heart because its conflicts have been felt by all. It's touching, it's romantic, it's witty — it ripples with pensive quiet. It doesn't just flirt with brilliance; it is brilliant, whether it knows it or not. (It also made stars out of Newton and Nicole Kidman, and kickstarted the careers of Taylor and Naomi Watts.) Read more reviews at petersonreviews.com
Tamarahvictor
I saw this movie today for the very first time and it was amazing. I've never seen a movie so well put together, even young adults as myself can relate or even fantasize with the plot itself. the character of Danny is every mysterious person who is opened to a whole new world by this young African girl. I really like this movie and i wish they made more movies like this now in days. I hope they remake this movie with a modern twist but still with the old charm. I really enjoyed this movie and it seems like a movie that i would watch in English class. I loved it and am hoping to share it among friends.it was great. My cousin also watched it with me and was like, "wow i have a thing for that Danny character!"
Gary Murphy
When I read the plot line, my first reaction was "How many times can they do this plot!" This is the story of a young man and woman who become romantically interested in each other in a prep school in Australia. He is white and she is a black African. The female lead is played by Thandie Newton, of current "ER" and "MI:2" fame. Of course, this kind of movie must have the mean-spirited, cute girl. In this case, that was played by Nicole Kidman. I rented this movie as a curiosity to see these fine actresses (and Naomi Watts) in their pre-fame days.I was pleasantly surprised at the flow and depth of this movie. The characters were quite 3-dimensional and avoided the obvious stereotypes. I was particularly satisfied with the character that Nicole Kidman played.
At first, I was a little put off by the attempts of these prep school kids to be philosophically "deep", but not coming close. Then it occurred to me that I was that way when I was their age 25 years ago.In all a very fine coming-of-age movie. I recommend that you rent this for an enjoyable plot and wonderful characters.
