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      High Tide

      PG-13 1987 1h 44m Comedy Drama List
      93% 15 Reviews Tomatometer 83% 250+ Ratings Audience Score Lillie (Judy Davis) is an alcoholic drifter who makes an unexpected discovery when she arrives in Eden, a coastal town in New South Wales, Australia. After setting herself up in a trailer park, the woman befriends a teenager named Ally (Claudia Karvan). Despite their age difference, the pair soon become close. But everything changes when Lillie meets Ally's grandmother, Bet (Jan Adele) ; Bet turns out to be Lillie's mother, meaning that Ally is the grown daughter she abandoned decades before. Read More Read Less

      Audience Reviews

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      Ravenswood R Richly detailed, entertaining, with excellent acting and a simple but emotionally charged story. Judy Davis is extremely good in her role, as are all of the actors. It is a showcase for the talents of everyone involved. The only small issue for me was the very dated and cliched 1980's saxophone music. It was used in so many films of the time it has lost its punch and seems meaningless. Other than that, it is an outstanding, thoughtful movie. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 04/23/23 Full Review Audience Member I just spent today writing a very bad review for another early (pre-international-fame) Aussie Gillian Armstrong film which was terrible! (Starstruck) which with the exception of having lots of members of the Puberty Blues cast was simple dreadful! And lo and behold I am so happy to have found this one! One of the criticisms I had of that film was that it was meaningless, went nowhere, was unsure of its genre, had crap acting - sorry terrible acting - and ultimately no message. Where as this film, although low budget and early in her career is heartbreakingly brilliant, one of the best films ever made on this topic and superbly acted by the grandma (who is a great singer by the way), the lovely little Claudia Kalvan (who is such an adorable and genuine kid) and the wonderful husband wife team - Colin Friels and Judy Davis. Judy Davis is by far one of the greatest living actresses! And by far the best Australian actress - and there is a lot of genuinely tough competition in that field. She is the true Meryl Streep of Australia - and actually blows Cate Blanchett out of the water any day. She is a treasure! well done Gillian! Wow - I am blown away - it might even be one of her best, most meaningful, true soulful films - and keep in mind she has worked with John Malkovich, Michael Gambon, Ralph Fiennes, Susan Sarandon and Barbara Hersey!!! Seriously if you genuinely care about great old school acting this is the film to watch! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/29/23 Full Review Audience Member Quite good Australian film about Judy Davis as a back-up singer for an Elvis impersonator stopping off in a small town only to befriend a local teenage tomboy who ends up being the daughter she gave up as a baby after the father had died. Written and directed by Gillian Armstrong, this is a smart character driven drama with a complex performance by Davis. Her character could easily have been a simply villainous character who eventually seeks redemption, but Armstrong and Davis make her character more complex than that. She's not just someone who gave up a child, but who may have actually done it for good reason for herself and the child, though that also may have been self rationalizing. It's that non-black and white presentation of the situation that makes this film so interesting. Claudia Karvan as the teenage daughter also gives a strong performance and is an equally well drawn, well rounded character by Armstrong, who is more than just a character simply wanting to know why she was abandoned. On the downside, I think the film was populated by too many colorful supporting, who were certainly entertaining, but who took away from the primary story. There's also the main contrivance of the plot the entire film centers upon, but let's not go there. Despite these minor quibbles, "High Tide" is a terrifically smart and engaging character drama. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Audience Member This happens to be my favorite movie. Super performances from all the cast...and very well cast. Beautiful story and very well written. The movie info on this page is completely inaccurate though....I have no idea what movie they are writing about, but it certainly is not High Tide. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/01/23 Full Review Audience Member A film about a child's happiness being blindly unnoticed by a mother-in-law, and a former back-up singer eventually finding her child, despite being a gambling, drinking woman. What starts off as a film with the focus on an Elvis impersonator, is soon left behind with the main focus, a triangle family relationship with mother, daughter, and mother-in-law/aunt, comfortably taking over well. While Jan Adele can be all over the place, Judy Davis does manage to make this only a minor problem. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/26/23 Full Review Audience Member An unexpected enjoyable Aussie flick. Judy Davis performance is really well rooted, the independent and reckless woman she plays throughout the film up to the point where she is stranded thanks to her car in a caravan park. There she finds out her daughter is alive played fantastically and beautifully by Claudia Karvan. Jan Adele plays Karvans grandmother in the film who watches over the girl all her life upset to find out her dead sons wife is around warns her to not come near her granddaughter. Through it Davis character goes through dramatic change. Its just unbelievable how well Davis sinks into her character during the whole thing. A good film Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      High Tide

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      Critics Reviews

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      Pauline Kael New Yorker Gillian Armstrong and her scenarist don’t connect the dotted lines, and you don’t want them to. Sep 11, 2023 Full Review Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times High Tide is a somber and muted film, very well acted. Rated: 3/4 Jan 1, 2000 Full Review Elizabeth Pincus Gay Community News (Boston) Despite High Tide's heavy- handedness, something satisfying comes in watching a commercial film focused entirely on independent women. Sep 13, 2022 Full Review Jas Keimig The Stranger (Seattle, WA) Though the tale skews melodramatic in parts, it's a tender study of grief and motherhood, all told in hues of blue. Dec 8, 2021 Full Review Jason Shawhan Nashville Scene Get an early start on your Mother's Day viewing with this little-seen 1987 Aussie drama. Sep 10, 2021 Full Review Michael Sragow NPR's Fresh Air It depicts the ties that bind -- and strangle -- with humor and compassion. Feb 3, 2021 Full Review Read all reviews

      Movie Info

      Synopsis Lillie (Judy Davis) is an alcoholic drifter who makes an unexpected discovery when she arrives in Eden, a coastal town in New South Wales, Australia. After setting herself up in a trailer park, the woman befriends a teenager named Ally (Claudia Karvan). Despite their age difference, the pair soon become close. But everything changes when Lillie meets Ally's grandmother, Bet (Jan Adele) ; Bet turns out to be Lillie's mother, meaning that Ally is the grown daughter she abandoned decades before.
      Director
      Gillian Armstrong
      Rating
      PG-13
      Genre
      Comedy, Drama
      Original Language
      English
      Box Office (Gross USA)
      $15.1K
      Runtime
      1h 44m