When i walked into the cinema i was worried, very worried. Here i was walking into a film adaptation of a book that i have read literally over 30 times, Klein's classic Hating Alison Ashley. Luckily i had prepared myself. I was prepared for the 11 year old story turned into a 14 year old story played by 19 year-olds. I was prepared for the more than likely over-hyped, overrated and very average performance of Delta Goodrem. And thats exactly what i got. But there was a little ray of sunshine in the true lead actor, Saskia Burmeister. Her and Jean Kittson (absolute legend, brilliant in this film) were the reason that i managed to walk into the cinema in the first place. Seeing Saskia in Wicked Science, The Pact and Thunderstruck, she hit me as someone who had a real talent, and here her talent really shines. She basically single handedly saves this film, every scene with Goodrem is saved by her. Her portrayal of Yuk is so beautifully accurately done, that in the end it really doesn't matter about the changes made from the book to the film. She was the reason i enjoyed this film as much as i did, which is amazing cause i managed to give it a 7/10 which considering the close to butchering of the book and goodrem it could've been a lot worse. Apart from the brilliant burmeister, there are some great little performances as well. Kittson of course is at her usual brilliant best, Craig Mclaughlin was a crack up in the small amount of screen time he was given, and even the beefed up role of Barry Hollis (Anthony Carpanelli) was although different to the book, worked an absolute treat in the film.
So all in all....Delta stick to what your good at..no wait not even that...go away....
Saskia.... get your AFI award speech ready!
