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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Elissa Down (writer)
Jimmy Jack (writer)
Release Date:
6 March 2008 (Australia) more
Plot:
All Thomas wants is a normal adolescence but his autistic brother, Charlie, thwarts his every opportunity. Will Thomas, with the help of his girlfriend, Jackie, accept his brother? | add synopsis
Awards:
15 wins & 23 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(14 articles)
'Rachel Getting Married' Sweeps 2009 Prism Awards in Film
(From Aceshowbiz. 23 April 2009, 11:34 PM, PDT)
Movie Review: The Black Balloon
(From MovieRetriever. 5 March 2009, 10:29 PM, PST)
User Comments:
Life is neither fair nor easy more (20 total)
Cast
(Credited cast)| Rhys Wakefield | ... | Thomas Mollison | |
| Luke Ford | ... | Charlie Mollison | |
| Toni Collette | ... | Maggie Mollison | |
| Erik Thomson | ... | Simon Mollison | |
| Gemma Ward | ... | Jackie Masters | |
| Lloyd Allison-Young | ... | James | |
| Nathin Butler | ... | Chris | |
| Lisa Kowalski | ... | Sally | |
| Firass Dirani | ... | Russell | |
| Aaron Glenane | ... | Bucko | |
| Andy Meritakis | ... | Daniel | |
| Henry Nixon | ... | Trevor | |
| Sally Evans | ... | Girl on Bus | |
| rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| Michael Allison | ... | Maternity Ward Husband | |
| Jeffery Armstrong | ... | Student on Bus and in Musical 'Afloat' | |
| Robert Armstrong | ... | Student on Bus and in Musical 'Afloat' | |
| Rosemary Armstrong | ... | Student on Bus and in Musical 'Afloat' | |
| Holly Austin | ... | Student on Bus and in Musical 'Afloat' | |
| George Badawi | ... | Russell's Dad | |
| Alexander Berlage | ... | Student on Bus and in Musical 'Afloat' | |
| George Bountros | ... | Student on Bus and in Musical 'Afloat' | |
| Kate Box | ... | Elizabeth | |
| Oliver Brookes | ... | Other Mate of Kid Next Door | |
| Matthew Cahill | ... | Student on Bus and in Musical 'Afloat' | |
| Zoe Carides | ... | Russell's Mum | |
| Ryan Clark | ... | Dean | |
| Yure Covich | ... | Maths Teacher | |
| Indigo Cumming | ... | Baby Sophie | |
| Jennifer Cutler | ... | Maternity Ward Patient | |
| Shai de Vletter-Sont | ... | Student on Bus and in Musical 'Afloat' | |
| Paul Doyle | ... | P.E. Teacher | |
| James Duffy | ... | Baby Sophie | |
| Makirum Fahey-Leigh | ... | Mate of Kid Next Door | |
| Sofia Fedirchuk | ... | Baby Sophie | |
| Terry Flanagan | ... | Teacher | |
| Sam Fraser | ... | Kid Next Door | |
| Cameron Fyfe | ... | Student on Bus and in Musical 'Afloat' | |
| Carla Gee | ... | Caroline | |
| Andrew James | ... | Teacher at Fight | |
| Eliza Logan | ... | Emergency Nurse | |
| Martin Lynes | ... | Emergency Doctor | |
| Rebecca Massey | ... | Miss Babb | |
| James Maxwell | ... | Cricket Commentator | |
| Claire McCarthy | ... | Teacher | |
| Tyne Miller | ... | Student on Bus | |
| Toby Molineaux | ... | Student Who Gets Hit | |
| Lachlan Monaghan | ... | Student on Bus | |
| Birthe Nohrden | ... | Supermarket Customer | |
| Jared Ohlstein | ... | Student on Bus and in Musical 'Afloat' | |
| Bradley Orford | ... | Neighbour | |
| Mathew Parsons | ... | Student on Bus and in Musical 'Afloat' | |
| Elle-May Patterson | ... | Kylie | |
| Ngoc Phan | ... | Teacher's Aide | |
| Anthony Phelan | ... | Mr. Masters | |
| Deborah Piper | ... | Social Worker Janet | |
| Amy Jo Farrow Potts | ... | Student on Bus and in Musical 'Afloat' | |
| Jan Ringrose | ... | Neighbour | |
| Andrew Ryan | ... | Student on Bus and in Musical 'Afloat' | |
| Inge Sildnik | ... | Supermarket Customer | |
| Ellie Singer | ... | Student on Bus | |
| Judy Singer | ... | Teacher | |
| Edward Smith | ... | Student on Bus and in Musical 'Afloat' | |
| Kieran Smith | ... | Student on Bus and in Musical 'Afloat' | |
| Arahni Sont | ... | Teacher | |
| Millie Spencer-Brown | ... | Checkout Girl | |
| Louise Sykes | ... | Maternity Nurse | |
| Gemma Thomas | ... | Student on Bus and in Musical 'Afloat' | |
| Zelie Thompson | ... | Mother in Van (as Zelie Bullen) | |
| Jackson T. Trout | ... | Student on Bus and in Musical 'Afloat' | |
| Tom Trout | ... | Student on Bus | |
| Sinisa Vrebac | ... | Student on Bus and in Musical 'Afloat' | |
| Sarah Woods | ... | Janet | |
Additional Details
MPAA:
Rated PG-13 for some sexual content, a scene of violence, and brief strong language.
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
97 min
Language:
Color:
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Certification:
Australia:M | USA:PG-13 | Finland:K-11 | Netherlands:6 | UK:15
Filming Locations:
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
At the river, Jackie says "Kieren Perkins, watch out!". Kieren Perkins is an Australian swimmer who won Gold medals at the 1992 and 1996 Olympics and a Silver medal at the 2000 Olympics, swimming in the 1500 metre event. more
Goofs:
Anachronisms: The school uniforms, casual clothes worn by the actors, and the father's military uniform suggest that the film is set in the late 1980s. The military vehicles, however, did not come into service until the 1990s. more
Quotes:
Thomas Mollison:
Dad do you ever wish Charlie was normal.
Simon Mollison:
All i know is he's my own, and your weak if you don't look after your own.
more
Movie Connections:
Features "Beyond 2000" (1985) more
Soundtrack:
Don't Go Now more
FAQ
What is this movie about?How much sex, violence, and profanity are in this movie?
A Note Regarding Spoilers
more
more (20 total)
Message Boards
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Related Links
| Full cast and crew | Company credits | External reviews |
| News articles | IMDb Drama section | IMDb Australia section |
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Life isn't easy for Thomas. Living as the younger brother in a family of four, with a fifth on the way is hard enough to begin with. It's even worse when the older brother is severely autistic and unable to care for himself in any way. So, quite naturally, Thomas struggles with growing up.
Films dealing with family lives like this only work when they show all the sides to a story and this one does it well. All the members of the family are properly introduced and their interaction is done well enough to give the impression that it is a perfectly normal family, which has a specific difficulty added to it.
The complexities of living with a mentally handicapped person are brought out well enough without ever being overly sentimental and, as far as I know from the interaction I have had with several autistic people, real enough.
All in all it is a real good film about growing up and growing up with a tremendous challenge making it harder on you. I loved it, and even more so because I know what Thomas went through from personal experience.