Opal Dream (2005)

User Rating:

6.5/10   

Director:

Peter Cattaneo

Writers:

Peter Cattaneo (screenplay) and
Ben Rice (screenplay)

Release Date:

22 November 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Family

Tagline:

. . . a rare gem of an Australian family film

Plot:

A young girl's relationship with her imaginary friends resonates throughout her town in the Australian Outback. |

Plot Keywords:

Imaginary Friend | Outback | Town | Australian Outback | Brother Sister Relationship

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Sapphire Boyce	...	Kellyanne Williamson
Christian Byers	...	Ashmol Williamson
Vince Colosimo	...	Rex Williamson
Jacqueline McKenzie	...	Annie Williamson
Robert Morgan	...	Sid
Anna Linarello	...	Betsy
Denise Roberts	...	Vera Dunkley
Peter Callan	...	Dan Dunkley
Stephen Potter	...	Lyndon Dunkley
Sharni Honor	...	Sandra Dunkley
Lisa Flanagan	...	Ms Banamooka
Anthony Braun	...	Lyndon's Gang
Casey Frew	...	Lyndon's Gang
Martin Grava	...	Lyndon's Gang
Roberto Crisa	...	Jes

Also Known As:

Pobby and Dingan (UK) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for mild thematic elements, language and some violence.

Runtime:

Australia:85 min | USA:86 min

Country:

Australia | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG | Netherlands:MG6 | Australia:PG | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Hong Kong:IIA | Finland:K-7 | South Korea:All | Italy:T

Filming Locations:

Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

Company:

Academy Features

a quieter and deeper Full Monty

This is quite a good film about a sun-scorched prospector town and family members whose dreams and imaginary worlds drive each other nuts. It's deeper than the director's best-known film, The Full Monty, though the topic is similar: the struggles of working-class folks to stay closer to their dreams than they are to their failures. The depiction of the town dynamics seemed to me as flawless as the individual performances, and as someone who comes from a family with shall we say a non-standard member, I was impressed with the film's ability to produce a familiar emotional mix of exasperation, devotion, and desire for a truly imaginative cure for the main problem. The movie delivers on this last point. It would be wrong to see this as a chick flick, because as in The Full Monty the cast and crew are interested in men who try to figure out how to resolve conflicts and fix disasters without using anger and force, and who pretty much succeed. British and Commonwealth film is generally better than American at avoiding stereotypes of blue-collar masculinity and this is a particularly good and heart- warming example. The boy in the picture, who has to figure out what to do about his dad and his sister, is one of the great kids of recent film history.