Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Micitype Pretty Good

SpunkySelfTwitter It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

ambertrower27 A gripping film, which tells a story of child migrants deported from the UK to Australia. Margaret, the film's heroine reunites estranged families and brings worldwide attention to the cause.The fact that the story was based on true events from the 1980s, with graphic tales of child abuse and social injustice, leaves me with a rather raw sense of disgust. Whilst the film is brilliant, I didn't actually enjoy watching it. It is the type of film that makes you think about all the wrongs in this world. But perhaps that is what makes it so brilliant. Worth a watch, but don't say I didn't warn you.

p-stepien Jim Loach, son of the revered Ken, traverses into the underbelly of British history with a subdued biopic of Margaret Humphreys (a tremendous as usual Emily Watson) and the insufficiently widespread story of the Home Children scheme, which transported up to 150 000 children from impoverished British families to orphanages across the globe. In 1987 social worker Humphreys specifically uncovered the involuntary child migration to the Australian colony, starting off in the mid-1900 century, but only ending in 1970. A state secret to which neither the Australian nor the British government wanted to confess to, brought many so-called orphans (promised the titular 'oranges and sunshine') into forced child labour, where they were subject to misuse, rape or even brought into contact with paedophile circuits. Of these the infamous Bindoon orphanage led by the Congregation of Christian Brothers, but built with the blood, sweat and tears of thousands of children, forced to mix cement in the scorching sun with their bare hands or carry stones the size of their upper body. These were the 'lost children of the Empire'.Jim Loach ventures down familiar family paths, instead of attempting to imprint his own signature. With this dimly lit feature he invokes a similarly grayish bleak mundanity, where even people wear drab clothing to underline the sense of dreary mistidings. Moments of light invariably and expectedly inhabit the more optimistic or revelatory moments, a somewhat expected filmmaker standard. Lacking a sense of individual style, borrowing from his great directorial father figure, isn't necessarily a problem. However Ken Loach usually ventures into projects with much less structure, which he can mold to his own liking, whereas the tragic historical backdrop of the Home Children scheme allows little leg-room and signalised a significant overreach on the part of the young director.With an overly TV-movie feel and an antiquated story delivery, Loach fails to instill a growing emotional punch, instead leaving large parts of the shocking reality with an underwhelming pull. That isn't to say that certain moments didn't hit with a vengeance, such as stories of abused Bindoon boys juxtaposed to Margaret struggling to live a normal family life. However for the most part the biopic struggles for dramatic coherence, overexposing certain aspects, while struggling to highlight others (especially regarding the hostile or disinterested reactions of government officials). With no real flow, "Oranges and Sunshine" provide one significant surprise: that such a striking, rage-inducing story brings about such a muted reaction in viewers, unlike the more familial, griping portrayal of the related subject matter of the Aboriginal Stolen Generation presented in "Rabbit Proof Fence". Unfortunately unearthing the ugly truth should really cause a more aggressive shock-induced response...

suspira-483-995391 I would be lying if I said I didn't want this film to be better. It's not a piece of high drama by any stretch but it IS a slow burn of a film which highlights the stupidity and boorishness of government agencies when they've done something wrong and don't want to accept any responsibility to what happened to those in their care. When it comes down to individuals having to work on their own to get the information these displaced people so desperately need, SOMETHING is wrong. The film is not a far stretch from reality, having personally experienced this for myself.I was wondering if they'd address the sexual abuse suffered by the children within the system, as well as the physical toil they dealt with. I am glad to see that this was treated with sensitivity and WITHOUT fanfare. Fortunately it is barely mentioned aside from the last 10 or so minutes of the film. There is more than enough of that going on in recent world happenings anyway.Don't even get me started on the Christian Brothers anyway... that part of the film brought tears to my eyes as it reminded me very much of the tales my own father - also a ward of the state with the rest of his siblings and under the Christian Brothers' care in the 60s and 70s - told me. Frankly, the less said about that organisation of kiddy fiddlers and abusers, the better.Hugo Weaving is a minor character in this film but he's no less captivating as a broken man who has suffered from the loss of his identity. Indeed, even David Wenham portrays a victim of abuse in sheer, angry denial perfectly.Unfortunately Emily Watson's character does not carry much weight which is disappointing as she is the main focus of the film rather than the deported (or "Lost") children. Much of her dialogue is stale and it's the actors around her that pull the movie together. The scripting is very weak at times, however if you can put up with that, it's a film well worth watching.I can't say I enjoyed it because I am very close to it's subject matter but it was a worthy telling of a tragic mishandling of the lives of children of our past.

Saad Khan Oranges and Sunshine – CATCH IT (B+) The film tells the story of Margaret Humphreys, a social worker from Nottingham who uncovered the scandal of "home children", a scheme of forcibly relocating poor children from the UK to Australia and Canada. Margaret reunites estranged families and brings worldwide attention to the cause. Deported children were promised oranges and sunshine but they got hard labor and life of misery and sexual abuse in institutions such as Keaney College in Bindoon, Western Australia. (Wiki) Oranges and Sunshine is a sensitive subject matter which defiantly put Britain in Shame when Margaret Humphreys broke out the story in 80s. Emily Watson's portrayal of Margaret Humphreys' trouble to help the transported kids all the way to Australia is heart wrenching. The emotional turmoil she goes to work for them while managing her family is something really inspiring. Emily Watson is a great actress and no doubt she brings her emotional range to the real life role model. In supporting cast Hugo Weaving & David Wenhem did a fine job. Overall, it's a sensitive movie about a sensitive issue. Keep in mind its tear jerker, so keep a box of tissue.