Strong and Moving!

Memorable, crazy movie

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

This film is great for so many reasons. First and foremost, it shows a successful young person who is having the time of his life. What makes this movie a different type of party movie is that it braves some of the tough questions that the majority of modern cinema is too scared to ask.We can look at other party movies that have gone before it, with immense box office success like The Hangover (2009), now a franchise, which by itself, must have almost single-handedly re-ignited global tourism to Las Vegas! Why has the Hangover movie franchise been so successful? What is it about letting go and having a sense of exaggerated release from whatever we feel binding us in our daily lives? Maybe this is getting a little deep for a movie review? But if we look at the box office receipts for The Hangover, people are paying to escape, paying to release, paying to watch a movie about some dudes who get so wasted that they can't remember what happened the next morning and spend the rest of the movie piecing back together what happened the night before. Enter Ruben Guthrie and you have a movie, with moments that are equally in the party extreme. So if you are looking for that type of release and superficial fun where you don't have to think too much, then you are definitely going to like parts of Ruben Guthrie all the way through. Equally, if you want to be entertained, but also engaged in terms of your feeling your brain is actually switched on, then Ruben Guthrie is going to give you plenty to think about, potentially for a long time after the movie has finished. The cinematography is of a high standard and shows some of the beautiful parts of Sydney that we take for granted like Tamarama, Bondi and our wonderful beach culture, so if you're into Sydney then definitely add Ruben Guthrie to your watchlist. The acting is a testament to the depth of talent that we have here in Australia, no wonder we keep supplying Hollywood with a steady stream of our best. Patrick Brammall as Ruben Guthrie is tour de force and sometimes during the movie I felt like I was watching a theatre play, so pure was the acting and so powerful the message. Writer director Brendan Cowell, should congratulate himself on a very sharp screenplay with very few weaknesses. With Ruben Guthrie, he has created a piece of cinema that will endure because it's a postcard of beautiful Sydney, because it's a movie about fun and release, because it's about love and sacrifice and, ultimately, because its about the men and women inside us all.

'Ruben Guthrie' and the titular lead are, as the movie garishly opens, hard to like; but much to this viewer's surprise, by the end of the film, some empathy and affection are afforded them both. I have enjoyed Brendan Cowell's screen work on both big and small, and thought it an inspired piece of casting to have what seems like his doppelganger, Patrick Brammall in the central role. I guess it was more than enough to adapt your own stage play and direct the picture! He has cast an actor with either a brilliant ability to channel the writer/director's life force, or just maybe they are two peas in a pod, Brammall is really finding his position as one of the country's most versatile and likable actors; even here as the at times despicable title character. The transposing from stage to screen feels fine to me; other than some at times overly heightened dialogue and performance; but I forgave those moments as being part and parcel of the over the top world of advertising and the spin off of partying and excess from the job. Has it been satirized here or made a cliché? Either way, it worked for me. I wondered how Cowell would trace the (anti) hero's journey and conclusion and along the way there are enough surprising moments to keep the viewer connected and rooting for the protagonist. Brammall chews the scenery and is equally adept in the screwball moments as the soberingly tender ones.Robyn Nevin was fine, as ever, and especially her one to one with 'Ruben' at the bar was a truly uncomfortable scene,and reiteration of why Ms Nevin is one of the most respected and enduring actors in Australia. Harriet Dyer as the hippy chick with her own baggage, was the revelation for me; I was both intrigued and moved by her performance. It was; aside from Ruben, the most fully fleshed of the supporting players. I had a few issues with the writing and oddly pitched performance of the usually reliable Alex Dimitriades; as the gay bestie,but once on the 'Ruben Guthrie' conveyor belt, I was along for the ride; even with its occasional jarring ingredients. This movie does have a lot to say about substance abuse and makes no easy answers or saccharine summaries to leave the viewer with. There is much texture here, and for me that is attributable to the writing and directing that Brendan Cowell delivers. It's not perfect; nor is the main character - but Patrick Brammall makes him human and flawed - just the way I like my leading characters on screen.

"Ruben Guthrie" is a strange film about alcoholism...strange because I really have no idea what it's trying to say. Still, despite this and a very strange ending, the acting is quite nice.The film begins with Ruben behaving like a drunk frat-boy--which is sad since he's supposed to be an adult. After his latest crazy binge, his live-in girlfriend has had enough and she leaves--vowing only to return IF he manages to stay sober for the next year. Ruben's commitment to sobriety at first is extremely shallow and he doesn't think he has a problem. But, over time and after the alcohol leaves his system, he slowly comes to see that he IS an alcoholic and becomes actively involved with Alcoholics Anonymous.Patrick Brammall is very good as Ruben and much of the script seemed very well done and seemed to have a lot of insights into not just alcoholism but how the families and friends of addicts often do a lot to try to keep the person actively drinking and screwing up their lives. But the film also seems to have lost a sense of direction and the ending is anti-climactic to say the very least.

Ruben Guthrie was yet another example of an Australian film which is lacking in substance. The character development was really poor overall, however particularly for the protagonist, Ruben Guthrie, a high-flying marketing whiz living it up in Sydney. Attempts are made to introduce us to some of Ruben's inner demons, however it is isolated almost solely to the commencement of the film, and unfortunately as a result of this 1-dimensional development, you can't really develop any sympathy for the character as he struggles with his alcoholism. As a female viewer, I also found the character's attitude to women particularly off-putting, and it doesn't inspire any empathy for his struggles with attempting to "win back" his supermodel fiancée, Zoya (Abbey Lee.)The most convincing character in the whole film is Virginia, a typical contradictory Bondi hipster, who remains opposed to alcohol and drugs, consumes only organic food, yet continues to chuff away at cigarettes - portrayed by Harriet Dyer. As another user has said, Abbey Lee is a model, and her beauty is stunningly obvious in the film, however unfortunately her acting skills are somewhat lacking in her ability to portray genuine emotions - seeming more of a pretty cardboard cutout that speaks.Ruben lacks a real character arc throughout the film - without giving too much away, you are left with the feeling that there isn't anything that has truly changed about the character in any aspect of his approach to life, despite the character's destination at the end of the film - though this is somewhat ambiguous.Some important questions are raised briefly in the film - whether alcoholism is in fact a genetic inheritance from previous generations, and whether anonymous support groups are the true means to a successful recovery from addiction, however the themes are glossed over and not explored to the depth which would give the viewer more of a sense of meaning to the film, even if there was not a "happy ending."Overall the film appears to attempt to create an Australian "Wolf of Wall Street", yet lacks the essential elements of any true character "journey" throughout, and leaves the viewer with a feeling of blank disappointment at its conclusion.