Sucker
Sucker
| 15 August 2015 (USA)
Sucker Trailers

When Chinese-Australian teenager Lawrence cheats at and fails his high-school exams, destroying his dreams of a medical degree, he's banished to the country for the summer. There, he meets wily old conman the Professor and his cynical daughter Sarah, and learns that even the sneakiest scam can't conjure up love. Is it a true story? That might be another of Leung's tricks.

Reviews
Stevecorp

Don't listen to the negative reviews

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Lightdeossk

Captivating movie !

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Curapedi

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

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Haven Kaycee

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

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Michael Ledo

Lawrence (John Luc) is a teen from a Chinese family living in Australia. He has taken up with a con artist and his daughter who he finds attractive. He teaches Lawrence the art of the con, using truisms like "You can't cheat and honest man" to justify the scams.This is a light Australian drama/comedy that was mildly clever and entertaining. In addition to learning about cons, Lawrence gets a valuable lesson about life. Not "The Sting" or "Brothers Bloom" but enjoyable nonetheless.From IMDB: "The film is the adaptation of comedian/actor Lawrence Leung's critically acclaimed award-winning one-man theater show SUCKER. The original live show was a critical and sell-out success at the Edinburgh Fringe, Melbourne International Comedy Festival and the Sydney Opera House."Guide: No F-words, sex, or nudity.

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CelluloidDog

I'm not sure what most people are thinking. Even most critics are bizarrely off in reviewing this comedy. I'm not sure what they were watching but it might not have been this film. First, it's actually well-written and well-acted. Ben Chessell and Lawrence Leung came up with the screenplay and did a terrific job off of Leung's in-person stage act. Timothy Spall was a charm as The Professor. John Luc and Lily Sullivan were solid. The film is lively in its angles, replayed scenes and twists. There are plenty of comments that this is a oft-told story about scamming but in reality, this film is very original. I have seen maybe 6,000 films but nothing like this. Zengster's review (among users) is actually the most accurate (7/10).So you have an original well-written film about an Asian Australian teenager who joins up with a father/daughter con-artist team. Some critics said there is nothing likable about the characters. Of course, if they were watching the movie, they might have noticed Sarah and The Professor both saying, they don't have friends. They are cheaters, scammers and more. But in the end, you realize, The Professor is a better person than we give credit for.So the few reviews said it's unoriginal since it goes by every scam in the book. Really? I will bet 98% of the audience doesn't know these scams or names of the scams. But as the film says, we all lie. So the audience pretends to know the story. But that's the hook. And people don't get it. It's a small budget film that is about the coming-of-age of an innocent Asian Australian boy who falls for a girl. The story is that love takes us to doing things we don't expect. In the end, Lawrence is the man who pulls it off.The real problem is that I think most people are uncomfortable with an Asian Australian kid running after a white Australian girl. Who ever heard of an Asian kid (John Luc who plays Lawrence) playing the lead role in an Australian film? It's not a box office draw, but a risky proposal. A second problem is that the humor is lightweight despite being quite clever. The screenplay is quite witty but most people probably don't understand the humor. Third, it's small-time stuff. People don't get excited about small time. People would rather see Ocean's 11 which is not as original, well-written or witty. Or see Catch Me if You Can which is more glamorous but lacks the writing depth. Sometimes it's better to have a crude film with lots of action or silliness and not play on cultural, sophisticated humor or wordplay. It's more sophisticated than people give it credit: such as the ending scene with Leung playing cards ("One queen and two jokers") or when Leung walks off with Luc.In summary, this film is just ahead of its time; people are not ready for this film. It's a pleasant minor hidden gem which I would rate about 6.9-7.1 but I gave it 8 stars just to catch up in the ratings.

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libertysky

Cheesy screenplay, main protagonist has a really weird accent. I have never heard a Chinese guy speak like that. It's like one of those YouTube user providers who force a fake British accent that just sounds lame.I suppose it's the character, but the character is a loser through and through. It made me cringe to see a negative stereotype being perpetuated. Overall, the story seemed like it was written by a high school student. There were a few (very few) redeeming scenes that might have belonged in a better class movie.

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Joseph Principe

I'm proud to say that I was apart of the lucky group of people who got to see this splendid movie at its premiere and boy was it amazing. This movie blew my socks off, literally. After the movie finished I had to search the entire cinema just to find them because they just flew right off my feet.The story is an inspirational tale of young Asian teenager (YouTuber, John Luc AKA MyChonny) trying to find true calling in life after he's caught cheating on his medical exam. He eventually finds it learning how to scam people from master swindler (Timothy Spall aka the rat in Harry Potter) and his sometimes hot daughter (Lily Sullivan, great actress). This is one of the few Australian movies that make Aussie cinema proud! (Unlike 'Australia'.. what on Earth happened there?)It's YouTuber MyChonny's first official acting role and you can tell he was at ease from all of his years of experience acting as Asian mum, Asian dad, Asian boy, Asian girl and the list goes on. In conclusion the movie is a interesting, well thought out story by Lawrence Leung and Ben Chessell did an amazing job directing it, his cinematography skills are truly something special.I highly recommend this movie!P.S. Did anyone notice how buff Chonny looked? WHAT A BOD!!

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