Brian T. Whitlock (GOWBTW)
G'Day Mate! Welcome to the Land Down Under! That's the greeting that'll never go out of style. Seeing "Bootmen" for the very first time was an interesting experience for me. I thought only jolly USA enjoyed tap-dancing from all the legends. "Bootmen" goes to extremes where other tap-dancing movies seem to make their stops. Two brothers Sean(Adam Garcia) and Mitchell(Sam Worthington) did tap in their youth. While Sean kept it in, the other brother does some shady work that catches up with him. Sean meets Sara(Susie Porter) and goes to an opera house for a big tap-dancing show there in another part of Austrailia. Somehow, all was a wash-up when the star of the show big ego gets Sean riled up. So it's back home, make up a tapping show of his own which looks like an act from the group, Stomp. When Mitch dies, Sean gives it his all to perform in his memory, and his disapproving father, finally opens his eyes to his son's dream. Goes to show when you live up to the dream, don't quit because of one's disapproval. This movie is moving, I mean really moving, it's worth dancing to, not too obvious, and the course of the movie is riveting. I wouldn't mind watching over and over, to get a better feel of it. Rating 4 out of 5 stars.
Fat Freddy's Cat
Yes, I thought the dancing was awesome. Just a pity to have to sit through such a tedious and poorly thought-out non-story to enjoy those few minutes of it.Nothing fitted. Nothing added up. Sean set off from Newcastle to Sydney like he was going to the end of the world, when it's a journey he would do on his motorbike in well under the running time of the movie. He's landed a part performing in the chorus of a big dance show there - his big break towards stardom. Does his beloved Linda drive down in that fast sports car of hers to see him on opening night? No, she sits at home by the phone waiting for him to ring. Aaaaaaaaaaah! Sophie Lee as bimbo extraordinaire! Guess all she had to do was act naturally.But it was all part of a plot that was totally pathetic. Just not credible. Right from the start of the movie the horrid nasty baddy and his gang of thugs had been in an escalating crime war with Mitch as their sole adversary. And this ends with a scene on a high overhead gantry with the baddie drawing a vicious knife and trying to gut the unarmed Mitch like a fish. Yet he is apparently horrified, remorseful even, when Mitch falls to his death in trying to escape him. "Strictly Ballroom" wove a plot that had lots of elements of fantasy, but beautifully depicted them thus amidst the sequins and glitter. That was why it was able to succeed so very well as a dance movie with a story to tell and a tearjerker happy ending. "Bootmen" couldn't or wouldn't leave for single second the grim reality of its harsh meanstreets and decaying heavy industry backdrop, and asked us to accept strictly at face value a story that was just woefully full of holes. 1 point for the plot, 5 for the dancing. Total 6/10
nomorehandshakes
'Bootmen' is a cross between 'The Full Monty' and 'Billy Elliot' but the comparisons have to stop there, as this film contains neither the depth nor the humor of the other two. It is one of the few Australian Films I have seen that, either purposefully or not, looks more like a Hollywood flick, and perhaps coincidentally it ranks lower than most Aussie films on my list. The characters are developed haphazardly, and the tone of the movie follows a similar chaotic path, with excellent dancing not quite making up for a weak script and a feeble, unoriginal plot. Although at parts moving or amusing (or occasionally both at once) the film as a whole lacks focus, and it could be seen as a way to bring the Directors talent as a choreographer into the limelight. Impressive dancing, but otherwise nothing special, and towards the end it appears to lose touch with reality.
mstick
The concept is good - to try to capture the style of the "Tap Dogs" and turn it into a feature film.Sadly, the transition to the big screen was not entirely successful. In order to reach the big tap finale, we had to wade through an hour and a half of paper thin plot - nice guy fails to make it in the big city, father-son conflict, brother-brother conflict and small scale organized crime racket.The quality of the acting left a bit to be desired (this is to be expected as the guys were selected for their tap ability, rather than their acting pedigree), and Sophie Lee was ... well, Sophie Lee (I'm yet to be convinced that she is an actor).The bleak industrial landscape and cinematography were quite good, as were the actors in the small supporting roles.So when push comes to shove - was the final tap spectacular worth sitting through the movie? Sure was, it's just a shame there wasn't a bit more of it.
AD
