Men's Group (2008) User Reviews

Brilliant

[thebogofeternalstench · 8/10 · 1 November 2009]

I'm actually from England, but live in New Zealand, been here for almost 3 years now.

I thought Mens Group was going to be quite boring at the beginning, but I thought everything about this film was done superbly. The acting was fantastic, very realistic and believable. The music was well places in each scene, I couldn't fault it.

I'm only 25 but was moved by the whole film. I do have a 16 month old son of my own and see him every day so I don't have the same problem the characters have not being able to see their kids in that sense, but I can definitely relate and understand what they were going through.

just a fantastic film. I'm really glad I rented it out. I had looked at the DVD in the shop for a few weeks and thought 'nah' this wont be any good. How wrong I was! Brilliant film.

Men's Group Punching Above It's Weight

[raiderhayseed · 8/10 · 1 September 2008]

The Australian Film Institute showed Men's Group to the faithful who troop along, year in – year out, to view the year's cinematic harvest and vote for their favourites. The group I hang out with spent the lunch break talking about nothing else than the surprisingly powerful impact of this deceptively simple, small scale film.

On paper it seems to be yawn making. Blokes sitting around talking about how bad their lives are.

But the clever use director Michael Joy makes of cut-aways to provide the back story, humour to lighten the very intense subject matter and fabulous performances that enoble the suffering souls of the characters, vicariously drags the viewers into their world for 104 minutes. Enter into this cinematic experience and you will share the banality of their lives, the devastating disappointments and the small triumphs of this circle of suffering strangers.

There is a very clever scripting device that opens out the story and breaks what could have been a very static viewing experience. It is interesting to speculate on the factors that lead to this break out.

Is it the intimation of intimacy arising from having another human applying make-up and body paint as a precursor to primal mens' rites that unlocks long gone memories, that sensitises the participants and leaves them dangerously vulnerable.

Is it the cruel taunt by the most tightly wound member of the group that drives another over the edge of the abyss of despair just as they are beginning to come together, empathise with each others' problems, socialise together?

Do therapy groups ever achieve anything that sensible social intercourse could deliver?

Are one-off abreaction experiences ultimately any more valuable than light relief?

Is it the cruelty of womankind that has driven these men to the desperate straits they are navigating their way through?

Is this film doing for group therapy what awakened libido did for the doomed hero of American Beauty?

They are some of the question this film inveigles into your subconscious waking state for days after you have seen it.

Mens' Group punches well above its weight.

How running from life is the opposite of control

[bjn-413-866420 · 7/10 · 9 October 2018]

This is an intriguing movie. It is not a plot-driven movie, but is rather a movie of ideas. And the main idea it explores is how do men deal with their emotions? It demonstrates how we often deal with life feeling like we are doing a good job managing things and hiding the things that bother us, when in reality our character becomes formed by the very acts that we use as a cover. In this sense, our lives become not something we control, but that control us as we run to avoid the issues. We use humor, crudity, self-involvement, alcohol, and on and on and on, pretending that is what we care about and all the while using it to shield us from having to deal with the discomfort is being honest with ourselves. There are significant things going on in each character's life, yet none of them is able to figure out what to do about them, and cannot find it within them to be honest enough with others to find help for their problems. Another user complains that the movie is disjointed, but I found the editing to be done artfully, moving in an out of each character's dilemmas interspersed with the men's group meetings to provide some explication of the daily events.

Incredibly affecting

[drinkdrunkthedifferencei · 10/10 · 4 July 2009]

I'm a 27 year old guy - I just finished watching Men's Group, about a therapy group for middle and older aged men, and it was like a punch in the stomach. No other film I've seen has conveyed to me the intense hurt, anger, aggression, and confusion that many men feel but try to repress. In that sense, I actually found the film really tense and often scary, because I constantly felt like someone was going to break or blow up at any minute. However, it also showed the compassion, empathy, and need for love that were underneath the brittle exteriors of some of the characters. I'm not a particularly emotional person, but my eyes watered for substantial portions of the running time. A movie that so affects me and my view of humanity is really special, and for that reason Men's Group is going into my mental top 10 list. It couldn't have achieved what it did without the genuinely phenomenal acting by everyone involved, and very clever direction and editing. It seemed incredibly real. I can't speak highly enough of this film, it bewilders me that there are only two comments on it so far, even though it's already been on DVD for some time! See it!

Complex but beautifully drawn

[anthonyjlangford · 9/10 · 10 August 2009]

It is what it says it is and doesn't pretend to be anything other. And for that, we are grateful. Don't be misled however, it is also much more.

Director Michael Joy brings together a wide group of men to talk about their various issues in a free range, ad lib style and yet the characters find themselves with similar issues, a little too similar to be a co-incidence and one wonders if this isn't reflective of the Director himself.

Having said that, it does make for a sense of unity amongst the men, and some cohesion in the piece. The performances are powerful, the emotions genuine, so real in fact, you'll be struggling to separate the men from the actors. It feels so authentic that it's impossible not to be moved. While it may be very much a man's film and men over a particular age, young men and women can also learn a lot from this bunch of blokes. We are more sensitive and complex than we are given credit for.

Not all of the character threads are explored and though we don't need all loose ends to be tied up, in fact, it's legitimate to leave something to the imagination, one character is left unexplained and it feels as though something is missing and even a little false. Yet this is nothing compared to the thin, contrived plot lines of Australian dramas over recent years. Once again, it takes an independent film to show how it can be done. The strength of the performances are so gripping, the underlying issues so intricate and so beautifully drawn to the surface, that in the end, you know you've witnessed something very special.

Fantastic Acting!!!

[billingtizard · 10/10 · 12 June 2008]

This film has the best ensemble cast I have seen in living memory. The film itself, and the actors, are so convincing that, in some recent festival screenings, audiences thought it was a very powerful, emotive documentary. Not so, cinema watchers. It is a drama. This is film making at it's peak! We are lead into what appears to be a quite ordinary, not very interesting situation, with characters to suit. A cast of anti-heroes, men driven by various circumstances who have been reluctantly persuaded to try and see the benefit of mutually sharing their experiences. So how are we going to relate to them? As the film unfolds we feel like voyeurs as we pry into their lives. Cannot recommend a film more highly. A blokes' response to chick flicks!

Explores the dark territory of the heart

[martin-647-723558 · 8/10 · 31 March 2013]

Men's Group opens with a lingering zoom shot of the group's meeting place, a private home, seen from a distant parked car. The camera is hand-held, the scene grimy and wobbly. Poor technique? On the contrary, it brilliantly conveys the indecision of one of the group's would-be participants as he musters the courage to get out of his safety zone and cross the street.

Towards the end of the film another participant, Moses, breaks down and howls out the truth that has been tormenting him. Two things ramp up the power of this scene to an almost unbearable intensity. First: such is the pain in Moses' voice that we can't make out a word he is saying; all we can hear is gut-wrenching, undiluted pain. Second: while this is happening the camera is not on Moses but in extreme close-up on Cecil, an older man whose own face is taut with pain and fear. It is masterful filmmaking.

The film has weaknesses. It feels staged in places and at times the acting, for all its power, somehow lacks authenticity. But these are quibbles. One does not watch a film like this for light entertainment. It is a journey into the hearts of seven men: into loneliness, grief, despair, fear and ultimately love. It is a tribute to the director and actors that they have explored this territory so courageously, in the process creating a work that radiates compassion and honesty. If you are a man, or have men in your life, see it.

Boring. Disjointed, Structureless. Effortlessly random screenplay. Plus no Steadycam.

[supadude2004 · 3/10 · 29 October 2011]

Here is the truth. I give you nothing but the simple truth about this movie:

The other people writing the positive reviews here must, undoubtedly, find dish-washing machine manuals to be the greatest works of literature, in the entire history of humanity, ever produced. I can think of no other reason why they found any single aspect of this rottenly dull movie to be interesting in any possible way. Period.

You know how it feels to sit at a restaurant table and overhear the mind numbingly boring conversation wafting over from the adjoining table as you await your girlfriend's late arrival!? You do? Well this is a movie which perfectly captures what it's like to overhear the most typically boring, structureless, banal conversation. The scriptwriter could not have written a more boring script if he tried. In fact - no one could write a more boring script and screenplay if the tried their very hardest to do so. Dull as dishwater is the phrase which perfectly captures the very essence of this movie. This production is almost tortuously boring. I could repeat any two minutes of the script here and you'd have the antidote to insomnia in words. Some writing here, have even claimed that the acting was "great"!?? Well how difficult is it to recant near endlessly boring conversations? Need more, I say?

And lest I forget... did I mention the hand-held lack of steady-cam? Need I really, really say more?

Awful. Awful. Awful in the dullest sense of the word. I give it 3/10 probably because my finger fell asleep on the "2" button as the credits (most thankfully) rolled, and accidentally hit the "3". If anyone, in your company, happens to "like" this movie then I would strongly advise you to give them a cup of hot cocoa, as you defensively insert your wax earplugs (to prevent yourself from hearing another dull word from their lips...) and prepare your bed for sleep - the only escape from the countless legions of thoroughly uninteresting people.