nassif b
Great Australian film. Brilliant.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
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Audience Member
Apples Don't Fall Far From Trees.. Unless They Are Picked Up By Another Force & Moved To Grow Elsewhere, With Better Opportunities. There is A Lot Of Cliche Lines & Scenes Scattered Through This With Not Much Of Anything That Is Evoking Of Thoughtful Prose.
Rated 1.5/5 Stars •
Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars
02/21/23
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Audience Member
An interesting film about racial tensions in Sydney, Australia.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
02/13/23
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Audience Member
Tense and relevant Australian drama about escaping stereotypes and vicious social cycles. Dealing with real issues, this film is essential viewing for local audiences.
Rated 4/5 Stars •
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
01/27/23
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Audience Member
The Combination delivers phenomenal cinematography and admirable performances, yet the story line and pacing is too simplistic. The underlying intention is admirable, and the scope of the project is brave yet, unfortunately, The Combination just misses out on becoming a local classic. With that in mind, director David Field has delivered a movie well worth remembering, and one that is deserving of a view no matter where you're from. Compared to the international film lexicon, The Combination is easily ignored. However; when absorbed against the backdrop of the modern Australian film industry's output it is an Oscar award-winning opus. I rarely exit a cinema, nor finish a DVD, without experiencing some regret at having wasted a portion of my life. The Combination helped me to appreciate those 2 hours of existence.
Rated 3.5/5 Stars •
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
01/26/23
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Audience Member
Its obvious the producers and director of the film were inspired by American History X, Boyz In the Hood, and other American movies which deal with multiculturalism, racism, and family. Unfortunately, inspiration alone does not meet the requirements when trying to produce a quality film. This film is a shining example of directors trying too hard to implement ideas from other movies into their films without building character structure, emotional investment, and atmosphere. The result of which is this film. The movie had so much more potential.
The movie stars George Basha and Firass Dirani with supporting performances from Doris Younane and Clare Brown. The inexperience of the cast is made more obvious with each scene by director, David Field and this is not more obvious than in the melodramatic final scenes.
The story revolves around Basha who plays John Markos, a Lebanese-Australian who has just been released from prison (we never know the reason or how long he has been in jail). On Johns return home, his mother, Mary, played by Doris Younane, greets him with open arms and is glad her son is home. He is also welcomed into his home by younger brother, Charlie, played by Firass Dirani (some Australians might remember him from the latest edition to the Underbelly series), who seems to have acquired some new friends since his brothers absence. The lack of a strong male presence in the household (their father died dont know how, or when) seems to have had a dramatic effect on Charlie and John tries to steer his younger brother away from his new friends, guiding him, sometimes with brute force (not much of an example) towards a better future. Charlie has become more like his older brother and tries to make easy money because he doesnt want to work for a lousy three hundred dollars a week to clean toilets, especially if the owner of the place is Aboriginal. So, Charlie starts dealing drugs and is introduced to drug king pin Ibo, played by Michael Denkha who hires Charlie and his friend to run drugs for him. While this is going on, John tries to get his life in order by getting a job at the local gym and forming a relationship with Sydney, played by the beautiful Clare Brown. In spite of his older brothers best efforts, Charlie continues his path of self destruction. The rest of the movie deals with the consequences of being involved in gang activity and the growing relationship between John and Clare.
The producer does not lack passion but rather direction and suffers from lack of subtlety. The writing is amateurish and this is can be seen in the outcome of the film, making the central performance of the piece somewhat insignificant and lacklustre.
2 stars of out 5.
Rated 2/5 Stars •
Rated 2 out of 5 stars
02/20/23
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