Around the Block (2013)

Sadly Over-hyped

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

This isn't the first time Christina Ricci disappointed me, she's a great little actress but this isn't the best movie she has ever done in her film career. That's only just my opinion!I felt the movie was very confusing, are we concentrating on Christina Ricci's character or the boy. Even though the plot says it's about the boy but it's also about Dino Chalmers. Which one are we concentrating on here? Thanks to the movie making me bored, I did not get to see Christina Ricci's and Ruby Rose's love scene. Yeah it was my fault for not seeing it but really, Ruby Rose didn't seem to appear much. It would be far better off if they concentrating on one story and not have them lumped on top of each other! This movie is all over the shop, it seriously needs redecorating!

Over the years it's been good to see that Christina Ricci has not only stayed in control of herself but has stuck to good roles. Her appearances in movies like "The Ice Storm", "The Opposite of Sex" and "The Laramie Project" proved that she wasn't going to be another one of these child stars who turns into a train wreck. One of her latest efforts is "Around the Block", in which she plays a woman teaching poverty-stricken Australian children Shakespeare. I understand that the movie focuses partly on the 2004 Redfern riots, which resulted from the death of an Aboriginal boy. The movie gives one a sense of what things are like for Australia's indigenous population. The Aborigines are 1% of Australia's population but 40% of its prison population (this even though Australia's white population is descended from people sent to jail). But anyway, it's a really good movie. I recommend it.

This film tells the story of two aboriginal brothers in Australia, whose lives diverges and disintegrates because of their different goals and values in life."Around the Block" tells a touching story of two underprivileged teenagers in a deprived neighborhood. They got involved in a turmoil that they do not need to be in, and it is up to the drama teacher to do something to help them - by engaging one of the two teenagers to act in a school play. It is an engaging and touching story, especially because it makes you yearn for an ending which is different compared to the one shown. I think the acting by the two teenagers are good, and Christina Ricci made the right choice to star in this gem. She needs to be in good films after a string of not so good ones!

This is an infuriatingly hackneyed entry in the idealistic-teacher-saves-disadvantaged-students sub-genre. It desperately wants to be hip and socially relevant, but is relentlessly and embarrassingly dull. It's a classic example of what happens when film funding bodies like Screen Australia become preoccupied with ticking all the politically correct boxes. Aboriginal content and cast. Tick. Female writer and director. Double tick. Lead character tailored for an American star (however awkwardly). Tick. Story geared to a younger demographic. Tick. But none of these elements ever comes together, and the result is a lame mish-mash that attempts to sell us Aboriginal students energised by Shakespeare, Christina Ricci battling racism and exploring her sexuality, and a morally confused criminal sub-plot that weirdly shifts the focus from the central characters. To make matters worse, the depiction of inner-Sydney's Redfern - which is given an LA ghetto makeover (complete with burnt-out cars and fires in the streets) - is dishonest and laughable to anyone who actually knows it.