Don't listen to the negative reviews

Absolutely brilliant

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Jack (Alex McLoughlin) makes an ingenious plan to steal the money from the Armagaurd, but doesn't quite work out how he is going to explain the extra money.He even mails it to himself. Sweet. Totally like a young bloke in desperate need of cash. You laugh initially at his naivety only to be gutted to see the real reason. The craziness and innocence of Jack is beautifully characterized.Jim Norton as Old man Mumbles is hilarious and unstoppable.The plot seemed a little stretched in places.Pearl (Diana Glenn) seemed to be bought into the script for no apparent reason and then unceremoniously dumped.A marriage ending on a bath seems unnecessary. The initial hook although gripping loosened as the story unfolded.On the plus side, brilliant and quirky characters with some excellent acting (David Field). A really good script kept the story interesting. Beautiful locales on the south coast of Sydney.

Living local to the Hawkesbury River and often riding the train journey through it, the mind would often drift and create many worlds inspired by this place. It is perhaps one of the more surreal places i have journeyed through in Australia.To see these world come to life in this film was a real joy. In my opinion the director did a fantastic job in taking the audience of this film into another world, a true journey. The projection of the Ausralian way of life was captured in a much more true and realistic light than many Ausralian films have to date. if anyone has made the train journey through the Hawkesbury River and looked out the window in wonder, i cant recommend this film strongly enough, enjoy

Just watched this again on Aunty ABC HD tonight - this time around on the Plasma (first time was a DVD through a standard telly).Still a stunning film, and the widescreen Plasma brings out the breath-taking swoops of the mighty Hawkesbury to perfection.Films like this are unique and very rare indeed. How easy it is to forget the depth of talent we have here in Oz. And it was great to see Jack again - a genuine 'feel good' actor and vastly under-rated.Absolutely loved it - again.And I can *still* smell the water... Fab :)2006 Review:This movie is a real pearler (no pun intended). Stark scenery shows the Hawkesbury river in its natural beauty. You wouldn't believe it's only a stones-throw out of Sydney. Camera work and optical detail are superb. The acting along with the cast and scenery are pure Australian - gritty, witty, and funny. A spade is a spade - no, wait... it's a f'n shovel, right? Hard as leather on the outside, but soft as soap on the inside. We might need to translate this movie into 'American' so that the Yanks can understand it (like we did with Mad Max) but the whole thing comes across as genuine, believable and straight down to earth. It's as much a love story as it is a documentary and a statement of how many of us Aussie 'battlers' have gone about our lives. We're all 'boaties' after all. Casting covers more seasoned actors as well as some fresh faces. Down to earth yet larger than life - dish it out and get it back. Life's like that. From the ramshackle dwellings to the crunch of the oyster-bed sands, I can just smell and taste the surroundings. Well done!

I think this is a lovely movie, which portrays the shellfish industry in an 'as it is' warts and all manner, more usually attributed to documentaries than to movies. The location is great and beautiful in a run down, natural, kind of way. You can tell that the film makers just used the natural fabric of the place rather than tried to build a set. The river is shown in all its glory and the love story itself is very well done. Having worked in the shellfish industry in the UK I could easily relate to the roughish characters portrayed here.Well Done.mark