Last Cab to Darwin (2015)

Every now and again, a movie strikes home for me. We all suffer loss and have fears of the unknown. A movie like Last Cab to Darwin finds a way to address both in a palatable, but in a touching, oh-so human way.Kudos to the ensemble for the fine acting, wonderful cinematography, directing, and imagery invoked in scene after scene. This is an intelligent, deeply moving story. The film's two dimensional representations of rural Australia and it's inhabitants belie the depth of this story. These were artfully used as the canvas upon which complicated characters and rich allegorical reflections on life were illustrated. Any time there seemed to be a cliché developing, it was spun into an important insight or revelation.Michael Caton's portrayal of Rex was simply amazing. A good actor's work will be described as believable...realistic. But a performance like this one goes beyond believable. You feel like you have always known this character personally. He is the workaday everyman. He could be your neighbor, an old friend, or a mate from work that you have beers with on payday. You are comfortable around him. When he hurts, you feel real compassion for him. You share in his feelings of fulfillment when he triumphs. Caton takes you along on this ride, not by force, but because you don't want to leave him. He asks for nothing, yet the grip of this character is so powerful you can't turn away from him. He is quietly deserving. We want to give to him. He is us, after all. We give to him as we would like to give to ourselves.See this movie. It's a gem.

I actually signed up to IMDb just to write this review. Having stumbled upon this film by accident, I couldn't have been more moved. Michael Caton delivers an Oscar worthy performance that had me in tears throughout. In fact the entire cast deliver a completely immersive experience that transported me to the Australian outback, in particular the actors who played Polly and Tilly. And there is no doubt the performances would have shone so brightly without an incredible script. The story is one of both joy and sadness and despite the fact I hate to cry I just could not stop watching. I am a huge fan of the film Australia because of the incredible scenery, which is partly why I decided to give this (which I heard nothing about) a try. I was not disappointed. Everything about this film is beautiful.

The Australian movie, "The Last Cab To Darwin" released in 2015 is a superb movie that was very well received in Australia. I highly recommend it. The American audience deserves to see this sensitive portrayal of life, redemption, and death. A must see.I was visiting Brisbane from the U.S. this August 2015 and Mission Impossible was sold out so I went to this wonderful movie instead. What a lucky break for me. This movie tackles self choice over death when faced with a terminal disease. It portrays a lonely man's journey across Australia and the grace he is blessed with by his experiences and the characters he meets. A truly sensitive look at what makes a life meaningful.

One of the great Australian success stories of a very profitable 2015 for local films, Jeremy Sims Last Cab to Darwin scored over 7 million dollars in local box office receipts this year and garnered an equal share of critical and audience good will that will likely see it become a staple in collections of local film lovers for years to come. Adapting Reg Cribb's successful stage play of the same name and casting Australian identity Michael Caton in the role that he portrayed in that very play, Sims has done a fine job at transplanting a play into a feature length film and his capturing of the dusty plains of outback Australia as Caton's dying cab driver and lonely soul Rex heads off on a road trip from South Australia's Broken Hill to Darwin is one of the films highlights. But it's not all smooth sailing for Sim's as he finds trouble maintaining momentum in the film which starts off particularly strong and engaging but through a misguided and cliché ridden final act loses stem, particularly with a bunch of side characters that feel slightly underdeveloped and also far to "movie like" to feel real. Caton delivers what could well be his finest ever moment as Rex a man we come to care for in a short period of time and Caton's experience with both comedy and drama serve him well as he balances a nice line between humour and pathos. Rex's journey (which is supposedly based around some true events) feels real and emotion filled but with the film itself set up for a 2 hour long trip, Rex's ride to be euthanized before cancer slowly kills him gets filled with Mark Coles Smith's (who sadly overplays) lost young man Tilly and Emma Hamilton's English ex-pat Julie's loving nurse and both these characters while at moments help the film along also take a little too much away from the film and it would've been nice to have seen them play smaller roles and Sims to have had more faith in Caton to carry the film along as he was seemingly more than up to the task.One of the better feel good (and sad) Australian movies in some time, The Last Cab to Darwin would be an incredibly hard films to dislike and while it never breaks out into being an undeniably standout classic, its deserving of its warm reception and likely long standing place in the hearts of Australian movie goers that found themselves investing in this likable tale of one man's journey to find himself in world that seemingly passed him by. 3 ½ cat trees out of 5