Tedfoldol everything you have heard about this movie is true.

WillSushyMedia This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Nayan Gough A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU A small film about an Australian family. Supposedly a real family. But you never know. To get out of the dregs of the working class in Australia, dockworker is the father, out of a family dominated by an alcoholic father who had too many children, but in those days after the second world war it was the norm, and to do it with glory and fame, that's the objective of Tony. He did it, that young son of that family who liked the piano, who loved swimming but only had his escape in mind, becoming the best in order to get to Harvard on a full scholarship. And he did it for sure. The film insists a lot on the rivalry between the two brothers pushed by the father into swimming, and swimming the same style. The father prefers the other son and gets berserk when it is Tony who wins, and that will precipitate the end. Tony's success provides him with the scholarship he wanted and he can go and swimming becomes an exacting hobby since swimming brought him what he wanted and he does not need it any more. The rivalry between the two brothers is pathetic. The father is a disaster of a father. But the escape of Tony is just an escape and does not bring much sympathy. He just goes away. And he drops the tool he worked on for twelve years or even maybe more once he has reached the object of his desire. Something is missing at the end: I guess real life is not always as much fun as a good film and does not make more than average films.Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines

katdawg620 In general, I usually hate movies that are based on a true story because they always are so...boring. But this movie was really inspiring and amazing I just...I love it! I thought all the actors did a splendid job. Rush is always good, and Jesse Spencer was awesome in this movie! I was really impressed with his performance. This movie is definitely a film that you don't forget about, and it's like it stays on your mind for the rest of the day because it was that good. I think it's impossible not to like this movie, but that's just my opinion. And I know people hardly comment on this, but the music was really good, too. Yeah, I pay attention to the music...I don't know who did the score. I'll check that in a bit. But whoever they are they did a fantastic job. So yeah. This is one of my favorite films now. And let me tell you, it's hard for a movie to become one of my favorites. So, to this movie...congrats!!! I loved it. :-)

Purity_of_Essence87 That just about sums up this film. Beautiful. What it depicts may not be, but it's portrayal certainly is not even given justice in words. Geoffrey Rush and Judy Davis were incredible. Had the film only featured the two of them, I think it still would've been amazing. Jesse Spencer also performed wonderfully, especially for such a young actor. Incredibly gifted, the three of them.My warning is this: this is not even close to a comedy and I think it's a highly emotional movie. Somewhat of a roller-coaster in that aspect. But worth every minute of film. It has just been moved to one of my favourite movies, and is now one of my favourite Geoffrey Rush movies up there with Shine, Elizabeth, and Pirates.Just see it.

agentk Just saw this film on its USA premiere at the Stony Brook Film Festival opening night. A packed house and an excellent Q+A session made this moving film a perfect choice to start the festival.As previously stated, the casting was perfect with the distressed family members being portrayed in believable and engrossing ways. Both Rush and Davis deliver wonderful portrayals. According to the author, who was on hand for the opening, Geoffrey Rush did an eerily accurate job in his role as Tony Fingleton's father. All in all, an excellent film that should be distributed more widely than it currently is.