ThedevilChoose
When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.
Rosie Searle
It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
Billy Ollie
Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable
TxMike
This is an Australian movie, set in the early 1990s, and has that look. The writer used experiences from her own family, and two autistic brothers, to form the composite shown here.The main character is Rhys Wakefield, who was about 19, as Thomas Mollison turning 16. He is a quite normal boy, but his dad is in the Army so has moved around a lot. As the movie opens the family is moving into a new neighborhood.Thomas has the older brother who has severe disabilities resulting from autism plus ADD. He can only communicate with a form of elementary sign language, and has to be kept locked in his house when not on his special bus or in his special school. Luke Ford plays Charlie, very well and very convincingly. Toni Collette is the mom, Maggie Mollison, who also is pregnant and delivers a girl. Erik Thomson is the dad, Simon Mollison.New to acting is model Gemma Ward, about 20 during filming, who plays high school student Jackie Masters, pretty blond, and quite accepting of ambiguous situations. For example while walking home from school with Thomas and Charlie, Charlie digs in her backpack and ends up with a tampon in his mouth. Thomas has to chase and tackle Charlie to get the tampon away from him. Thomas was mortified, figured Jackie would surely ditch their budding romance but she only smiled and said, "At least it wasn't one that had been used." Her character was a good sport in a number of difficult situations.So the story is really about Thomas getting a grip on who he is and accepting his situation rather than hoping or wishing his brother was not like that.Good movie, drama and comedy mixed well.
Ruby Liang (ruby_fff)
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.
sleepingreader
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.
Greg Treadway (treadwaywrites)
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.
