heffmacher_2000
This movie was pretty good. I wasn't expecting a block buster so having low expectations probably made it better than what the comments have been. Its worth watching and i would recommend it to anyone who likes an Aussie flick. I disagree that Peter Phelps would have been a better person to play Brenden Abbott. If you read up on the Postcard Bandit you would agree that Tom Long did a superb job.It obviously didn't have a massive Hollywood budget but you shouldn't be disappointed if view it. It was on TV here in Australia very late and i thought I'd just watch the start but i ended up watching the entire movie through to 2am. I read an article in the paper after this came out and the police officer who tracked down Abbott said it was a very accurate comparison to what it was like chasing down the Postcard Bandit. He said there had only been a few minor changes in the movie.Judge for yourself.
thirteenthfloorelevator
Not even the slightest bit of anything resembling effort went into this film. The characters are one dimensional, the effects are shoddy and the acting is so awful that at times I thought I was watching a year 12 production of "dags" - the acting quality is much superior in that! While some of the events might be factual, that does not make them actually interesting, and this whole movie is more boring than watching paint dry! Even if the budget was bigger I have a sneaky suspicion that the movie would have been crap anyway, because it would not have changed the awful writing and poor performances! What a waste of all the effort involved!
Clint Mahoney
Straight up, The Postcard Bandit is brilliant, directed n' shot so well and acting is top form. Only thing with true story's is that i wish they would keep it real as much as they could for legend sake, they don't go off the rails to much here but as other reviewers have noted, the truth is a little stretched.Putting that aside, this movie is classic, a true Aussie flick that should have gotton more than just a TV airing, but if you like the slick stubby wearin' yobbo laugh's then this is it. The score contains mainly of Australian singer/songwriter James Rayne and flows this film very smoothly as we travel with Abbot and crew across our red land on his mission robbin' banks. Australia needs more movies like this, n' one thing we do love is our outlaws. Tasma Walton by the way is another good reason to check this one out!!! She rocks!!Right up there with Chopper Two Hands and, Dirty Deeds.
thedailymagnet
The 2003 movie, The Postcard Bandit, based on journalist Derek Pedley's book about the life and crimes of bank robber Brenden Abbott, has finally been released in the video shops.Considering the rather unique criminal mastermind of Abbott, it is a disappointing script and screenplay with little vision or understanding of the genre and the casting of Tom Long as the lead may well have heralded the death knell on this ambitious project.Whilst Long has performed impressively in comedies such as The Dish, to cast him as the hard-as-nails and stocky built Abbott really detracted from the credibility of his character.Long was seemingly a fish out of water covering this material and his accent and delivery were laboured and he was well and truly shown up by, Glen Stiller, who played Abbott's younger brother, Glenn Salmon.Stiller's eerie likeness and off-the-cuff depiction of Salmon was one of the film's saving graces along with the performances of Helen Dallimore and Tasma Walton as Abbott's romantic interests, Gina and Frankie.In an era where actors are struggling to find work it is difficult to understand how the casting could have gone so wrong, particularly with so many locals on the crew and the real characters available for research and colour to the script.Overall it was a fairly mind-numbing revival that in no way did justice to the myth built up by the Australian media and the police Abbott eluded for so long.
AD
