Kattiera Nana I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

JinRoz For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

CommentsXp Best movie ever!

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.

Vito Doria I read the novel in high school and it had a bleak realism to it, especially the ending. The film has a happier ending and it makes the whole journey worthwhile.Another difference is that Josie says that a U2 song plays in the background at the end of the book. In the film version, a cover version of U2's "With or Without You" plays in the background during the funeral scene in the middle of the film.Ethnic films in Australia can be dated and clichéd but "Looking for Alibrandi" still made sense and had relevance when it was released. This is predominantly a drama but it still has some laughs and you don't need to be an Italo-Australian to understand some of the humour on show.Pia Miranda is great as the leading character Josie and the film is a great journey in how Josie matures in her final year at high school while facing different challenges thrown at her.

mooncomix To get things straight, there was only one reason I read both the book and saw the movie. It was to get a mark in my English class.We were given the book and, after a dozen or so slow hours, the book was finished. And I thought I was free. And THEN my teacher pulls the TV into the classroom. HOwever long it was later, the TV was switched off, and I immediately started ranting about how bad it was. I wasn't the only one.First off, the acting wasn't bad, it was reasonable. The music was good too (except for one instance which I will rant about later) and the cinematography was decent too.BUT these things don't really matter if you don't have characters you care about or a decent plot!!!The book at least attempts to make you care about the characters, it shows little scenes between some of them to show that they are actually human. The movie, however, just dumps you right in the middle of it and expects you to love all the characters instantly, which is especially hard for the main character who I think is a horrible person. What about the character John Barton? He spends the entire time he's in the film smiling, joking and running around, flirting with Josie, he's depressed for thirty seconds, there's a 'tense' moment and then he kills himself. And are we supposed to care? Yes. Do we? NO!!! Because the movie didn't build up his character, didn't make him realistic OR likable. But this actually brings me to the only compliment I can really give this movie. The funeral scene was well done. Well shot, it was reasonably moving. And the song choice was brilliant. U2's 'With Or Without You' is an amazing song and was perfect for that scene. Sadly, they had it sung by tone deaf cats with laryngitis. The singer (whoever it was, I don't care about him enough to look up his name) was HORRENDOUS!!!! Horrible!!!! I just couldn't believe they would let someone ruin one of the best songs ever like that! I hope they didn't pay him, because I would definitely be asking HIM to give ME money. And yes, I know I've spent a paragraph complaining about a song in the movie, but I had to get it out there.Another thing that bothered me was the ending. The book had a rather realistic ending, not everything was sunshine and smiles. The movie, however, made it ENTIRELY sunshine and smiles, everyone was happy, everything was perfect. It kinda ruined the entire thing, although it was ruined anyway just by making it a movie.All in all, this movie was worth the one star I gave it purely because of the funeral scene. I couldn't stand any more of it. The only thing that could get me through it was the fact that I want to do well in English and this counted towards the grade.

darce_man Meet 17 year old Josie Alibrandi (Pia Miranda); she's your typical Australian teenager, in search of identity, love and her driver's licence. Josie is determined to get good grades, move out of her house in 'little Sicily' and become a lawyer so that she won't ever be bothered again by her Nona (Elena Cotta) and Mama's (Greta Scacchi) irrationally tight grip on her. With such a confident attitude, her final school year should be a breeze, but it isn't. The teachers at her catholic, all-girl school disapprove of Josie's inconsistent behaviour and she risks losing her scholarship at the school. Meanwhile she struggles to win over the boy of her dreams whilst another boy, whom she had previously never acknowledged, expresses feelings for her. But these problems are overshadowed when her long lost father (Anthony LaPaglia) turns up on her doorstep… This is a gem of a movie. Kate Woods and Melina Marchetta show that it is possible to make a 'Romantic Comedy' without using that tired old Hollywood formula (Guy and girl meet – happy together – relationship is ruined when girl finds out a shocking truth about guy – guy is miserable – does something to win back girl – couple are once again happy together – credits roll). The best bit about this success story is that an Australian movie demonstrated the mould could be broken. For a 'Romantic Comedy' it is still quite realistic and covers serious issues, such as teenage suicide. In fact, to try to classify this film into a specific genre would be unreasonable as it has an entirely original plot. This film is a portrayal of a year in a person's life. Do you think that you could place a year of your own life into a single genre? Could you call your life a comedy or a drama, a film- noire or romance? I don't think so. This is the case with 'Looking for Alibrandi'. Like life, you can think that you know where it is going and then suddenly something happens and breaks the pattern of your comfortable day-to-day pattern - everything is suddenly turned upside down. This is how the story of Looking For Alibrandi is told. It does not finish with a fairytale ending and a 'happily ever after,' because real life rarely ever does, and the future is always unknown.This is a riveting film. The characters are built up beautifully and you can genuinely relate to them. This is why when the characters are emotional, you actually care about them and therefore share their emotions, unlike many films where the characters seem to be playing charades. The acting is generally good, especially by the slightly older and more experienced actors (Greta Scacchi, Anthony LaPaglia) however, some of the younger, less experienced actors gave weaker, less convincing performances. Jacob Coote (Kick Gurry) is a case in point, sometimes he looked downright embarrassed to be in front of the camera. Looking for Alibrandi was an independent production, which had limited resources and a small budget, so such minor aspects can be forgiven.Overall, this is a great film by any standards and would be appreciated by anyone who has been to high school and had to deal with the pressures and issues that arise during that time of one's life. 8/10 Stars.

simon-trek When I was doing my HSC, the novel of 'Looking For Alibrandi' was of the main texts for the subject: English. Our task for 'Alibrandi' was to "focus only on the novel don't say anything about the film". I actually watched the film before I'd finished reading the novel, but to me the film was just the same as the novel. Well English was never my best subject and I wasn't found of any of the English texts. I don't mean to offend anyone but I don't like the novel or the film of 'Alibrandi'.The reason why I don't like it is because stories about ordinary people bore me. The main reason why I either watch movies or read novels is because theybring you out of the ordinary world into a funny, exciting and extraordinaryworld. So 'Alibrandi' is the exact opposite of everything that entertains me in movies or novels. So I'd say that 'Alibrandi' has become a popular text forEnglish here in Australia, but it doesn't mean you have to like it.