The Black Balloon (2008)

Director:

Elissa Down

Writers:

Elissa Down (writer)
Jimmy Jack (writer)

Release Date:

6 March 2008 (Australia)

Genre:

Drama

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? |

Plot Keywords:

Girlfriend | Autistic | Color In Title | Speedo | Short Bus

Awards:

15 wins & 23 nominations

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

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some sexual content, a scene of violence, and brief strong language.

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

Australia | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:M | USA:PG-13 | Finland:K-11 | Netherlands:6 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Bardia Parade, Holsworthy, New South Wales, Australia

Company:

Australian Film Commission, The

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.

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.

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.

Movie Connections:

Features "Beyond 2000" (1985)

Soundtrack:

Don't Go Now

Life is neither fair nor easy

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.