Robyn R

One of my favourite films of all time. There's always been a special place in my heart for Phar Lap (the horse). When I was a kid I loved horses (still do) and collected ceramic miniatures of horses and basically anything that had a picture of a horse on it. I was looking in a brick-a-brack shop once and I came across a framed b & w photo of a horse which was still in really good shape and bought it for a couple of dollars, took it home and hung it on my bedroom wall. A few years later my dad had a visit from an old work colleague and as he was leaving, he glance at the photo on my wall as he passed by. He looked at me and said "Phar Lap". I just gaped at him. I had no idea. He says "Do you mind if I take a look?" So he walks over, leans in and then says "Yep. This is an original photograph taken of Phar Lap after he won the 1930 Melbourne Cup. This is probably worth a bit of money". I still have the photo to this day.

I f*****g loved this movie. It starts out in a linear style where Carey Mulligan's character "Cassie" who was once a med student but now works in a coffee shop and lives with her parents is setting up men in bars to teach them a lesson about taking advantage of inebreated young women due to her ongoing trauma of losing her best friend after she was raped at a frat party in Medical school. It's never really made apparent what happened to her friend "Nina" after the assault but it's assumed that she committed suicide. Apart from random men in bars she is also targeting certain people that she felt were responsible for doing nothing to hold those involved in the assault accountable. The way she goes about this is exceedingly satisfying. Half way through there is a shift in the story when she meets a charming young guy at the coffee shop whom she begins dating. From there the story shifts and just when you think you know where the story is leading it shifts again. And again. And again. The conclusion is shocking to say the least but leaves you with a sense of satisfaction. It's almost as though the story couldn't have ended any other way. The acting from the entire cast, particularly Cary Mulligan, was superb. This movie doesn't show us anything new about rape culture but I don't think that was it's intention from the start. I highly recommend this movie. It's an easy watch with touches of humour that lifted it from some of the heaviness of the subject matter. One comment in particular from Cassie's boyfriend to her mother during dinner while enjoying their first meeting is especially hilarious. Do yourself a favour and watch this movie.You won't be disappointed.

SPOILERS * As they say "That's 88 minutes of my life I'll never get back". And at my age it's 88 minutes I resent losing. Barbara Hershey was beautiful and classy as usual and of course had the audience rooting for her. But the ending, in just a couple of minutes, negated everything about her character that came before. She was a woman who was proud of the life she had lived and all that she had achieved. She was intelligent, kind and had empathy for other people. She hated how badly the staff were treating the other residents and terrified when it started happening to her. And yet we're supposed to believe that she would be more than willing to subject untold numbers of elderly people, other people's loved ones, to the same brutalisation just so she can feel better and have a few less wrinkles on her face. Not to mention subjecting her beloved grandson to a life of tending to the old and infirm instead of living his life, getting an education, falling in love and having a family of his own because he would be "all alone" if she were to die. The entire premise is ludicrous. Not to mention ageist. It's incredibly insulting to suggest that youth is such a prized possession to the aged that they wouldn't hesitate to go against their principles, their better judgement and all that they have believed throughout their lives and just throw others like them under the bus for their own selfish purposes. And the few people that have defended the ending because "you wouldn't understand unless you were old" must be, in my opinion, already selfish and narcissistic if they admit that they would have chosen to do the same as Judith for a chance to be young again. I hope you all end up like Roland. I cannot express how much I HATED this movie. The only moral to be taken from this story is that youth is so essential to happiness that it is worth killing for. If I could give it zero stars I would. Everybody involved in making this monstrosity should hang their heads in shame.

To all the commenters below who didn't like the ending of Gallipoli... Peter Weir the director deliberately ended the movie the way he did because he wanted to recreate the famous photo by Robert Capa called "The Falling Man" taken on 5th September 1936 during a battle in the Spanish Civil War. It depicted a soldier at the exact moment of death. The director wanted to illustrate the point that no matter what time in history or what war was being fought, all soldiers die the same way. Senselessly and needlessly.