Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows FanStore News Showtimes

Look Both Ways

Play trailer Poster for Look Both Ways PG-13 2005 1h 40m Comedy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
75% Tomatometer 57 Reviews 75% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
As the weekend looms, three troubled people are faced with potentially life-changing events. After her father's death, Meryl (Justine Clarke) is forced to cut her bereavement short to focus on a deadline for work. Nick (William McInnes), a reporter, awaits his cancer test results while his photographer Andy (Anthony Hayes) is preoccupied with his girlfriend's unplanned pregnancy. When a train crashed near Meryl, Nick and Andy interview her sparking a romance between Nick and the grieving woman.
Look Both Ways

What to Know

Critics Consensus

With animated sequences adding imaginative quirkiness to the mix, this movie about death and disaster is insightful, empathic, and more uplifting than one would think.

Read Critics Reviews

Critics Reviews

View All (57) Critics Reviews
J. R. Jones Chicago Reader The convincing characters and hearty examination of mortality make this fresh and oddly uplifting. Jun 28, 2022 Full Review Simon Crook Empire Magazine A dreamy but tough ensemble indie that delivers its existential angst with a straight-up Aussie drawl. Rated: 3/5 Aug 25, 2006 Full Review Dave Calhoun Time Out While [director Sarah] Watt begins to offer an interesting study in paranoia, tinged with some good comic moments, her multi-stranded plot and last-minute recourse to romance ultimately lost the interest of this viewer. Aug 24, 2006 Full Review Richard Propes TheIndependentCritic.com It works because Watt presents these characters as richly human people with nearly fatal flaws who still struggle to survive. Rated: 3.5/4.0 Sep 14, 2020 Full Review Brian Gibson Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Alberta) A remarkably dense and powerful picture of people's yearning and struggling. . . . about how 'things just happen'%u2014that's the sadness and beauty of life. Aug 20, 2007 Full Review Kam Williams Upstage Magazine Not a feel-good flick, yet likely to strike a chord with those inclined to contemplate life as a pessimistic venture guided by the unpredictable vagaries of the fickle finger of fate. Rated: 3.5/4 Jun 1, 2007 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (226) audience reviews
Audience Member An excellent Australian film - one of my favourites. A story about life, death, and love. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/20/23 Full Review Audience Member Urgh, I don't know what to say about this. It's mostly above-average for an Australian film, but the abrupt cop-out ending kinda made everything seem trite and meaningless. It also falls into the common Australian trap of thinking drama means everything has to be super serious and everyone has to be melancholic and filled with ennui and staring off into the middle distance. It's not bad, and I liked it for the most part, but Watt makes a lot of mistakes I had trouble ignoring. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/30/23 Full Review walter m On the way home from her father's funeral, Meryl(Justine Clarke), an artst, imagines many scenes of catastrophe before witnessing a man being hit by a train, chasing after his dog. Covering the story for the local newspaper is Nick(William McInnes), a photographer, who has just been diagnosed with testicular cancer. Regardless, Andy(Anthony Hayes), a graduate of the Oliver Stone School of Journalism, complains to his editor, Phil(Andrew S. Gilbert), about the photo that is used with his story. In any case, Andy has more important things to worry about like his girlfriend Anna(Lisa Flanagan) being pregnant. I'll give "Look Both Ways" this much. It sure is different with occasional animated interludes but the shark in the pool is a little too obvious. Plus, I admire its willingness to tackle difficult subjects. Sadly, it never quite comes together as it goes from one extreme to another. And the movie also has an alarming lack of focus on characters who even when dealing with extremely important crises somehow also seem very self-involved at the same time, especially Meryl whose moroseness is inferred might originate more from her loneliness than anything else. Or maybe commuter trains in Australia have a very poor safety record, as there are many shots of people walking calmly along train tracks. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member very nice movie, great soundtrack Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Audience Member Atmospheric, brooding, melancholic. Aussies take on 'Magnolia'. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/12/23 Full Review Audience Member Cheap yet well written. Appears as though life imitates art once again. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/20/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Look Both Ways

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

Bigger Than the Sky 12% 54% Bigger Than the Sky Watchlist The Salon 12% 66% The Salon Watchlist Driving Lessons 49% 71% Driving Lessons Watchlist Raising Helen 25% 61% Raising Helen Watchlist The Thing About My Folks 44% 51% The Thing About My Folks Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis As the weekend looms, three troubled people are faced with potentially life-changing events. After her father's death, Meryl (Justine Clarke) is forced to cut her bereavement short to focus on a deadline for work. Nick (William McInnes), a reporter, awaits his cancer test results while his photographer Andy (Anthony Hayes) is preoccupied with his girlfriend's unplanned pregnancy. When a train crashed near Meryl, Nick and Andy interview her sparking a romance between Nick and the grieving woman.
Director
Sarah Watt
Producer
Bridget Ikin
Screenwriter
Sarah Watt
Production Co
Hibiscus Films
Rating
PG-13 (Sexual Content|Thematic Material|Some Violent Images)
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Original Language
English
Rerelease Date (Theaters)
Apr 14, 2006
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 2, 2017
Box Office (Gross USA)
$104.7K
Runtime
1h 40m
Sound Mix
Dolby Digital