Bruce-387
Just a simple fun film to watch. I have watched it a few times and enjoy it each time. I am not Australian and still get the humor (or humour).Characters are very good. I love the voice over even though someone said it was bad. I think it made the film.It is also nice watching a film without mega stars and in this case some new faces to me.The plot is simple but leads to some great humor. I also like the ending and the fact that money does not have to corrupt and people can more or less continue a nice life with their friends.
miruleyall
Summary:If you want to experience some Australian culture on your screen watch this movie.It is a story of a bunch of local council slackers and their "discovery", a simple tale of fate and mate ship.Direction, writing and acting is all very smooth, Australian, cut and very funny.Feeling good the Aussie way.Read below if want slightly more detailed information:Eric Bana does very well in his role, it suits him down to the ground, the character he plays is very likable, a local council worker wanting more material things in life but does not have the money.His friends are also very funny and there is many moments of funny interactions on screen.
merklekranz
"The Nugget" is really lightweight material, not unlike an extended TV sitcom, only without the laughs. Eric Bana, Stephen Curry, and Dave O'Niel, come across as sophomoric (think teen comedy with 30 year olds), and the script is weak enough to expose inept acting from all concerned. The Australian dialect really wasn't a problem, as I had feared. The whole thing just sort of stumbles along a very predictable path towards a fantasy conclusion that is totally out of place. The frequent narrations only add to the weakness of the storyline. I think most viewers will have extreme difficulty finishing this mess. I know I did. - MERK
wombat_1
No spoilers are possible for this movie - let's face it, the promos give it away. Boys find nugget, boys lose nugget, boys lose friends, boys find .... well, they find a lot of things. But moving on, I have two personal glimpses here that you might find of interest.1. My wife and I own a rural property near Mudgee, where this film was made, and we have travelled much in this area. So from personal experience I can tell you that the countryside that you saw in this film is really every bit as spectacular and wild as it appears. The producers of the film wouldn't have had to look very far or wide to find the place that they did. It's ALL like that!!!2. Someone made a comment previously about that "they don't make helicopters that small". Well, unlikely as it seems, they do: there was a McDonalds commercial made a couple of years ago that had two tiny remote controlled helicopters in it. That commercial was made in my street. The tiny helicopter scenes in it are "real": I saw them being made. So I now have no trouble believing that they could have used something like this to film the aerial sequences, which yes, are absolutely spectacular.
I also have serious doubts a previous reviewer's comment about that this film would go well overseas. Much of the humour, the language, the situation scenes are very very local Australian in nature, and I am extremely skeptical that they would carry over to other countries, even to other English speaking ones like Britain or the United States. Given how (for example) Norman Gunston was not all that well understood overseas, I can't see that the characters in this movie would fare any better.Peter Moon seems to have well and truly typecast himself as a caricature of the most disgusting Australian male ever to be filmed, but in a humourous context rather than a "gross" one. Everytime he came on, I couldn't help but think of that immortal line from his "Good morning, Moscow" gags: "Oh Victor... you very unattractive man".I was a little disappointed that the women cast as the characters wives were cast as "just wives". I would have liked to have seen Belinda Emmett given the opportunity to see if she really is anything more than just a "soapie chick".Despite all the seeming negatives, I thought it was a very funny movie. Certainly it had that "working dog" look about it; but given the main actors and their backgrounds, there was also a lot of "Fast Forward" and "Full Frontal" about it as well. I would have loved to have seen Steve Vizard given a part in this movie.Several of Max Cullen's lines, especially the ones where he sets the rather unusual price on his gold lease, suggest that there may well be a sequel. To quote another ad: "I'd like to see that"!!!!!!