Erskineville Kings

I can quite happily quote you chapter and verse when it comes to Erskineville Kings because I love this film with fierce intensity. Even though EK has an unconventional feel to it and we are asked to confront some nasty issues along the way, it touched my soul the very first time I saw it and it still has the capacity to create a heavy swell of tension in my chest with each and every viewing, despite the fact I've seen it more times now than the majority of you have had hot dinners!

A mixed bag of comedy and drama. Hugh Jackman shines and you can see his screen presence straight away.

The first time I watched Erskinville Kings was due to the fact that I am a Hugh Jackman fan, and I was aware that this was his first film. I have to tell you that as soon as it finished I started watching it again, and sat through it mesmerised.

The gripping Erskineville Kings is a great film. One brother returns to Sydney after a long absence in the country.

An excellent performance from Hugh Jackman, in his first straight dramatic role after an exalted career in stage musicals, is the only saving grace for Erskineville Kings, the debut feature from former advertising whiz Alan White.This is a highly self-indulgent and pretentious piece, filled with laughable nomenclature, savagely stilted dialogue, and the shoddiest technical direction seen in an Australian film for well over a decade.

Erskineville Kings is another great Australian film. It is about the relationship between two brothers: one who escaped the pace of Sydney and an abusive father to work in the rural north and one who stayed with the father until his dying day.

Australian films seem to be going through a surge of neo-realism suburban style. THE BOYS, HEAD ON, PRAISE and now ERSKINEVILLE KINGS.

The premise for this movie is nothing new - death of parent, sons coming to terms with their divided feelings – but director Alan White manages to inject something fresh into the cliche. This is a film that doesn't moralize or preach.

Erskineville KingsAvoid this one.Erskineville is an inner suburb of Sydney near the bottom of the social scale (or at least it was in the 1970s when this movie is apparently set.