It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

The movie is wonderful and true, an act of love in all its contradictions and complexity

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

My first ever review on IMDb, simply because of the great performance from Sam Worthington. Now in 2009 he is becoming very famous thanks to 'Terminator: Salvation' & 'Avatar'. 'Bootmen' shows his great talent at the very beginning of his career. He is the biggest asset of this movie. His character, Mitch is complex, real & vulnerable. I highly recommend this movie to all those viewers that are interested how his career has started and developed. Personally I think 'Gettin' Square' shows his talents much better, but anyways what a interesting start. Movie in itself is not bad, either, though Adam Garcia is a bit wooden as main character, Mitch's brother, Sean. It is worth seeing because of excellent tapping scenes.

Sorry I hate to be negative about my fellow country men - but really this is a fairly bad film. Did any one notice that the dead mother was a brunette at the being of the film - but a blonde in the closing flashback/montage? The script was weak - the acting flat and the character development non existent. Odd that a town like Newcastle should be such a hot bed of tap? Well Who am I to judge - I just hope that Dein Perry never gets to direct another film. On a positive note at least Sohpie Lee and Susie Porter had the good grace to look a tad embarrassed by the whole thing. Oh and the gay content at the end seemed just plain silly I think

I had forgotten about this film and I live in Sydney. NOT the public success it should have been and I suspect a major commercial disappointment for the ambitious producer, this film suffers so badly by stridently trying to be butch to avoid the poofy dancing thingy image. So trowled onto our heads is the "I'm tough - but I er, dance y'know" yobbo dialogue it severely pulls the patience of the audience away from enjoying the dynamic dance routines. In fact, it is also so SERIOUS and full of retarded bumpkin behaviour, someone forgot the jokes. BILLY ELLIOTT and FULL MONTY cover the same industrial tough family territory but they have hilarious moments and are properly fleshed out characters. BOOTMEN is just crude and embarrassing...until the dancing starts. Director andChoreographer extraordinaire Dein Perry upon whom this is based and whose live shows were a massive hit in the 90s mis-serves this Barry McKenzie take on his craft. One can see the stardom on the horizon for Adam Garcia but it is Sam Worthington who is the major talent here. He is only NOW just getting the recognition he deserves from SOMERSAULT just released. Viewers should check out the excellent crime caper DIRTY DEEDS for another level of his talent. BOOTMEN got the boot on first release and on TV as it is tonight, is is still a cringing experience...until the dance numbers (and they all shutup and concentrate). The awful Ric Carter, a failed 80s comedian is the absolute worst of this bad drama (but good dance pic).

The concept is good - to try to capture the style of the "Tap Dogs" and turn it into a feature film.Sadly, the transition to the big screen was not entirely successful. In order to reach the big tap finale, we had to wade through an hour and a half of paper thin plot - nice guy fails to make it in the big city, father-son conflict, brother-brother conflict and small scale organized crime racket.The quality of the acting left a bit to be desired (this is to be expected as the guys were selected for their tap ability, rather than their acting pedigree), and Sophie Lee was ... well, Sophie Lee (I'm yet to be convinced that she is an actor).The bleak industrial landscape and cinematography were quite good, as were the actors in the small supporting roles.So when push comes to shove - was the final tap spectacular worth sitting through the movie? Sure was, it's just a shame there wasn't a bit more of it.