psinclair-1 Don't you just love it when you're searching for some escapism and you accidentally come across a movie that you've never heard of and are impressed by it from start to finish. This movie is classy because it takes an old, predictable story line but makes you want to keep watching simply because of the quality of the film making. The acting is fantastic. The entire cast are totally believable (where are all these brilliant Aussie actors hiding?)The tension and suspense in the direction is enthralling. The dialogue is underplayed and the ominous cool of modern urban multiculturalism is portrayed with artistry. Great cast, script and especially insightful direction. Loved it!

CurtHerzstark This film was really big surprise for me since I've never heard about it and no one seems to have seen it. This dark, realistic, gritty, crime drama takes no prisoners, offers no easy explanations and also gives the viewer something to think about. The film circles around three friends with lebanese heritage who all dreams of succeeding and becoming financially independent.The life of crime is the easy way out when everything else seems to fail and thus these three friends embark on a road that can only lead to more problems.Director Serhat Caradee has gotten a very talented group actors like, Les Chantery, Bren Foster, Waddah Sari, Rachael Taylor etc. Everyone plays their characters with a lot realism, honesty and also leaves the viewer with an emotional impact that rarely seen in crime films nowadays.Usually crime drama fall short on realism, they become too glossy or starts glorifying the main characters, or makes unrealistic plot turns but not so here.The socialrealism is everywhere in this film, it has a lowkey tone/style to it that reminds you of old classics like The Panic in Needle Park (1971, Mean Streets (1973) etc. Some of the characters feels so real you could sworn you met these on a Friday night at some clubs, bars, discos. See this film, it will be worth it, providing that you like films like Gomorra (2008, Little Odessa (1994) or documentaries like Cocaine Cowboys (2006.

rettercritical I am an Australian and in our country, we are pretty suspicious of our own crime and genre films. There is always something not quite right. they either imitate American cinema, have our local dialogue painfully wrong or just get details totally off the mark. they can also have mediocre production values or poor style and direction. Chopper is perhaps the best Australian film of the Genre. It got the detail right and could be taken seriously. Lately, our TV has been dominated with Australian "true crime" stories such as the Underbelly series. people love the salacious content and real life figures (often dead in real-life from gang-land murders) being depicted on screen. Unfortunately Its pretty crap made for TV entertainment.The Cedar Boys is a low budget film entry into the genre. I was skeptical going in but its honestly quite a nice little gem.The film revolves around a few guys in the Lebanese community who deal drugs. One naive guy in the group, motivated by impressing a girl with cocaine and raising cash for his Brothers court appeal, finds a way of getting a cheap stash of drugs. This requires stealing them from another dealer, who isn't home and that is pretty much the set up.What I liked about the film was it kept things pretty low-key. it didn't go over the top with stereotypes, ramp up any unnecessary drama or action. Its an efficient and mostly tight genre piece that becomes more satisfying and engrossing as it goes along. The protagonist is perfectly alright in the role of the mostly good natured guy going bad but his two collaborators (one cocky the other understated) are really excellent. There are bits and pieces that don't work, shots that are not perfect but the shooting schedule was 26 days and that is a record for an Australian feature film. I think the briskness of the shoot mostly worked in its favor, giving a pretty fresh and organic feel.What works is the low-budget. The locations are real and the shooting is mostly an effective doco style approach. I didn't like the constant green tones in the colour scheme though. it is a look used in too many films.As I said the story unfolds and becomes more interesting as things sharpen up to a totally satisfying climax. I enjoyed this film because of being surprised at how well made it was. reading the synopsis, I was expecting a cringe-fest and wasn't going to check it out at all. I switched over to the station it was playing on and it ended up being a worthy experience. Us Australians love to get the knives out, tearing apart Aussie films and often for good reason but I can honestly say this is worth watching. The secret to these films being successful is often a low budget and being forced to do most of it for real, avoiding clichés and often getting inexperienced actors that already inhabit a look and feel you want. It can bring authenticity which the genre otherwise lacks.

Scot Free Okay, I think the question IS should we or should we not spend our time to watch this movie. Yes, especially since the movie market seems constantly flooded with new material. Many big budget, "A List" actor films spend advert money hoping for blockbusters. This Cedar Boys film is more of a low budget writer/director film. (Low budget being around 1.5 million contrasted with a few thousand micro-budget "friends and family" budgets like the "Blair Witch" project.) This writer/director went to an Australian film school, likely made connections and played the system to get state funding et cetera. Congratulations for maintaining some integrity this money/finance driven "Hollywood" industry (where playing the money game often devastates creativity). Okay, now to my critique and 7.5 stars. I chose to watch the film because the multicultural messages appeals to my avid travel/explorative sensibilities. (Though I've spend years backpacking the globe, I've never actually done Australia and always enjoy some insight into this country.) Even through main characters look they are trying to fit in as Lebanese (i.e. Middle Eastern), the attitudes can relate to many who dress up, go out and sometimes even do drugs to fit in. The writer director appears to do a somewhat realistic representation of cocaine which the "hot" white-girl wanted … leading into a relationship with the girl who lied about being an designer and was actually a stripper. Then the movie surrounds the theft and subsequent selling 1000's of white pills. They appeared to be called "Euro" pills. Even though some of the characters appear like they may be on the pills, I do not notice what type of drugs, and with this if there are any effects, any noticeable personality changes of these characters being on the drugs. Note that cocaine is clearly represented but are the other drugs some type of steroid, speed or MDMA/MDA/X. I think that a bit more sensitivity to the drug could relate to viewers who may have experienced or can relate to drugs. This gets to the next overarching theme that "crime doesn't pay." This theme is done pretty well. Good natured kids (out of high school and working) get involved in more serious crimes which leads to the murder of main character. I also liked the portrayal of the older brother who was in jail. I liked the multicultural, religious effect of the character doing Salat prayer. (The Muslim prayer on a prayer carpet in a prison cell which is shown a couple times). I also like the ending where this brother appeared to kill the fellow prisoner which did not keep his apparent promise. The main character, younger brother of the prisoner ended up murdered. This is a nice ending that makes us think about right and wrong (also the multi-cultural Middle Eastern theme relating to vendettas).In conclusion I will say that I also like the portrayal of close family bonds where most of the kids were living with their parents and tried to respect a level of family values. The writer/director dedicated the movie to his Mother who was sick and died shortly after the movie was done. So, another positive surrounds a more realistic, seemingly multicultural presentation of family ties. Often crime hurts the families most. Good job on the movie and good luck in the future. (Note, maybe look for another screenwriter to collaborate and bring some potentially new material.) Thumbs Up, Scot