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JT (287 KP) rated Charlie and Boots (2012) in Movies

Mar 10, 2020

Charlie and Boots (2012)

2012 | Adventure, Comedy, Drama

3.5

(2 Ratings)

Movie Rating

For anyone affiliated with Australia and those who have a soft spot for Paul Hogan, should enjoy this heartwarming tale set against the backdrop of one of the world’s most beautiful countries. When Charlie (Hogan) loses his wife to whom he was married to for forty-five years he struggles to fill an empty void that she leaves behind.

Content to shut himself off from the world he is rescued by his son Boots (Jacobson) who decides to take him on a very impromptu trip to fish off of Australia’s Northern most point, Cape York.

It’s a road trip, a buddy film about dealing with death and the start of new beginnings. Along the way the pair pick up Jess (Morgan Griffin), a young female hitchhiker with boyfriend trouble, and whose happy go lucky outlook on life seem to rub off on the duo.

It’s clear to see from the outset that these two have not had the closest of father son relationships, with a particular family tragedy revealed mid way through, and both have put up strong boundaries. But the trip is a chance to put all that behind them and start a fresh.

Of course amongst all the emotional turmoil there are some funny moments, with Charlie trying to avoid the affections of a female trucker, an altercation with a car load of lawn bowls enthusiasts and a bull!

The film could be seen as a promotional tourist video and some of the landscape and scenery is breathtaking, but this film is about Hogan and Jacobson beginning to feel comfortable in each others company once again.

Hogan is very much an Aussie icon, he’s way short of the Crocodile larrikin he once was but here he still manages to ooze the charm and charisma that everyone will still remember.

Kudos

Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated The Hundred-Foot Journey (2014) in Movies

Aug 6, 2019

When it comes to food, opinions on colors, flavors, and textures are dynamic. No two foodies are the same. Throughout the world culinary differences abound; even ideas of what constitutes a food can be disparate. Blurring the line between history and the future, favorite dishes get modern twists and contemporary chefs discover innovation by studying the foods of yesteryear.

Films always have a location, but while “The 100 Foot Journey” is set in small town France, the story really exists at the crossroads of two fiercely independent culinary traditions. Throughout the film, Indian and French cuisines feed the visual storytelling and nourish the scenes.

As the leading man, Hassan, actor Manish Dayal plays a convincing chef struggling between two cultural and culinary worlds. But it is the support of Papa, Hassan’s can-do attitude driven father, played by actor Om Puri, and Michelin star obsessed know-it-all neighbor Madame Mallory (Helen Mirren) that invigorate the screen.

Simple yet engaging, plot is not where “The 100 Foot Journey” excels. Opting to focus on subtle interpersonal scenes, the film lacks twists, suspense, and grand surprises. Instead “The 100 Foot Journey” explores the joys, sorrows, and revelations that happen when two culinary histories and lifestyles meet. The journey highlights the challenges faced with preserving tradition while also carving a new path.

Consumables garnish almost every moment of character interaction; food plays a role in careers, conflicts, and mutual understanding. It could be easy, and not entirely wrong, to write-off this picture as a feel good foodie flick. However, just like a good croissant, “The 100 Foot Journey” is worth more than a deceptively uncomplicated a first glance; it contains flavorful and complex layers upon further examination. Be it a story of coincidence, lucky, or fate, “The 100 Foot Journey” is worth a taste if not a feast.