Ruben Guthrie (2015)

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.

Wasn't expecting it but this was a very good movie. Engaging throughout. Patrick Brammall can act. Loved Abbey Lee's 'second scene.' Will leave it at that.Oh, evidently, need 10 lines to post. But I don't feel like writing 10 lines. Don't read on.Life is good for ad man Ruben Guthrie - he leads a party boy lifestyle, has a model fiancée and lives in a house on the water. He's at the top of his game, until some drunken skylarking lands Ruben at the bottom of his infinity pool, lucky to be alive. His mum hits the panic button, and then his fiancée leaves him, but not before issuing him one final challenge: If Ruben can do one year without a drink, she'll give him another chance... RUBEN GUTHRIE is the story of one man not only battling the bottle, but the city that won't let him put it down.

Brendan Cowell's previous screen writing credit was for the woeful comedy Save Your Legs, a film so poor in concept that how it ever came to production simply beggars belief.Ruben Guthrie, fortunately, proves to be a few notches above his Indian-based cricket caper. Adapted by Cowell from his own stage play, he also directs with some confidence.The film centres, as the title eponymously suggests, on the character Ruben Guthrie (Patrick Brammall), a high-flying advertising guru enjoying the hedonistic excesses that are perceived as integral to that profession; his persona neatly fits the acronym Lombard – a lot of money but a right dick. Enjoying the trappings of his lifestyle, he drunkenly jumps from a ledge as a stunt narrowly avoiding fatal injuries. This proves too much for his beautiful and long-suffering Czech fiancée who walks out on him but advises she could return if he can stay off the drink for a year and turn his life around. The film then chronicles Ruben's life as he attempts to do just that.It is at this juncture that the film is at its strongest. Ruben's journey takes something of a random trajectory as he finds a lack of support from close family, colleagues and friends all of whom seem to have their own selfish motives in their dealings with him. Patrick Brammall brings great nuance to his role, injecting depth into his character and carrying the film squarely on his shoulders. The supporting cast – Jack Thompson and Robyn Nevin as the estranged, alcohol-soaked parents; Alex Dimitriades as the caustic gay best friend; Jeremy Sims as the troubled boss and Harriet Dyer as the superficial flake from the AA group who ends up in his bed are all assured in their roles. The less said about Brenton Thwaites' poorly acted, poorly written role as the new social-media face of advertising, the better.Direction from Cowell was well-paced and cinematography was good, only occasionally let down by some sloppy editing. Locations were well chosen and Guthrie's exclusive waterfront property in which many scenes were shot, always gave the impression of being a trophy house rather than a home. His over the top bar, which amusingly stayed in situ during his abstinence, would not have disgraced the swankiest New York private club.But at just over 90 minutes the film needed more. It lacked enough wit to be considered a full comedy and required more bite. Guthrie's story alone was not enough for a cinematic release. Although it rarely betrayed its theatrical origins, the story needed to expand to explore more themes, to perhaps satirise the advertising industry and those who inhabit its self-absorbed world. Nonetheless, the film still delivers some punches and Patrick Brammall's performance alone merits great praise.

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.