Search: Starring Toni Collette

What makes About A Boy so refreshing is the surprise factor - surprisingly funny, surprisingly unsentimental, surprisingly enjoyable.

Fearlessly reaches outside the box.

Having set a scene of intriguing grotesquery the plot falls victim of its own invention

A mood of barely suppressed violence hangs in the air, like a threat of rabid wildlife.

Gliding smoothly under the surface of what appears to be a serious film about coincidence and morality is that old black magic called sentiment.

The story doesn't make sense.

It is part of Aussie tradition to kick the livings out of convention, in this case gangster flicks.

Evening has all the advantages one might hope for. It's a shame, then, that it doesn't quite fulfill its potential.

Refreshing and breezy - but also forgotten almost as soon as it has wafted by.

What's noticeable about Gillespie's version is how little really has to change to make it work.

What just about saves this film from its scruffiness is the strength of the performances.

Gerard Barett's low-budget drama is marked out by raw performances and a strong empathy for its characters that help buoy up its downbeat subject matter.

The plot is pants down puerile

If you’re sick of Hollywood teen movies that can’t see past the end of their next tube of lip gloss, this Aussie alternative is well worth checking out.

Despite, or perhaps because of this general air of ephemerality, you want to hold on to the moment and particularly to that sweet spot of youth, so deftly portrayed by Clemons, when everything is blossoming with possibility.

I personally found Aster’s film incredibly unsettling, one of the closest approximations to the kind of nightmares that really shake me that I have seen on film recently.

It would be difficult to overestimate the quality of this film.

Entertaining as blackly comic drama.

One of the years best and most underrated films.

The writing is witty and observant, without being cruel.

Both sides of the political spectrum have arguments about how the law and justice are not the same. While Callahan and his .44 were making that case one bullet at a time, Juror #2 is a lot slower, with plenty more sitting down.

As a whodunit, the film is fun and forgettable.

Writer Michael Arndt has cleverly captured the bribery and corruption which lie at the heart of most families.

Griffiths enjoys showing us the particulars of Ellie's life and it doesn't feel like exposition though it might look a little ersatz.

The squirm count is off the scale

The script is cleverly done, the key relationships well and economically drawn; and while this is clearly comedy, it does not pull its punches.

Exquisite attention to detail that creates not only a complex portrait of each of the main characters but also a vivid sense of place.

From its first kindlings it draws breath from your lungs as surely and as steadily as it draws your eyes.

While the ending is not too difficult to guess, the subtleties reverberate beyond the simplistic plot.

This is no run-of-the-mill shoot-'em-up. It has a definite signature and a real blackness to it.

The pace is slow, not that that matters, because Osment is such a compelling actor.

If this is the new slapstick, bring back the old

Goes down easily, like a house red.

This is the closest you'll come to experiencing the allure of fame and the power of illusion.

Nat Faxon and Jim Rash's directorial debut may not be breaking any new ground but this is a warm and funny tale, helped enormously by good performances and a snappy script.