Movie Matinee Madness - Ladies in Black

What an all star Australian cast, Rachael Taylor, Ryan Corr, Shane Jacobson, Noni Hazlehurst and newcomer to Wentworth Susie Porter.

Taking in a little over 5 million bucks at the Australian box office thus far, Ladies in Black has made the transformation from book to stage and finally to screen via Bruce Beresford.

Claiming it was thirty years in the making, it was worth the wait for the brilliant Ladies in Black.

As Sydney only goes back in time now, it's nice to see a functional tram service zipping around town in a 1959 Sydney.



It's a full ensemble film with no real lead except Angourie Rice as Lisa sort sees her dreams through in the film. Taylor as Fay also has a lovely blossoming romance with Corr and is always working her butt off over the Christmas and summer holiday period.

It's nice seeing Susie Porter outside the Wentworth walls as a nice mother and not a crime mother involved in trying to solve her sons murder and get on top in an all female jail setting.

Shane Jacobson as Mr. Miles is actually likeable on screen for the first time in a while and in saying this, this could be the best Australian film of the year.

After only seeing Sweet Country and The Flip Side (two very different films), I have probably missed an Aussie film or two, but this will not only be remembered but will actually be a success at the box office. $5 million and counting is a very good start, the stage show was semi well received and in turn has maybe helped this film be seen by a wider audience.

It clearly has a demographic that I don't fall into, I could have been the only man at my lunchtime matinee session, but it aims at an age group still going to the movies, so good on them.

Ladies in Black is actually great, 4 Stars, a nice, well made and shows Sydney in a truly positive light, even if we do have to go back to the hey day of 1959 to see Sydney in a way Alan Jones still sees Sydney.