BlazeLime Strong and Moving!

Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Asad Almond A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Bert Krus I wasn't searching for a movie about aids. The subject usually gives me a very uneasy feeling. I don't want to remember those days when some very good friends of mine died in agony in front of my eyes. I was quite young back then, and did I really understand what happened? No, when you're young life looks endless. So when this movie, unexpectedly for me, because I had not read anything about it, brought up the aids subject, I had to take a deep breath. But the movie is so well executed that it is much more than an aids drama. This movie is a piece of human history and every high school student should see it. I am in my 50s and now aids is something of the past, thanks to great medicine. It cuts through my heart that young men like ones in this film had no chance at all. Especially in the 80s gay liberation wasn't that far, and so much human needs have been denied to these men. Thank god society has improved on these levels, and it only could by telling these important stories.

runamokprods Note: this review has some very light and general spoilers that probably won't be much news to those who know enough about the story to be reading about it here.An extremely well intended adaptation of Timothy Conigave's memoir of the great love of life set in Australia in the 70s, 80s, and early 90s. The film did make me cry. And it was nice to see a gay love story where both the deep romance and intense sexuality of these two men were treated as utterly normal by the film -- if not by the society the two men were living in at the time. I also appreciate the way it pulled no punches on showing the devastating physical effects of AIDS in the days where treatment options were pathetically limited and ineffective. So there is much going for it. But, frustratingly, some of that good stuff is off-set with cinematic miss-steps, at least to my eyes: E.g. Casting Aussie stars Guy Pearce, Kerry Fox, and Geoffrey Rush in cameos so small that their presence seems more weird and distracting than involving (Anthony LaPaglia also takes a small role, but one with enough meat that at least his presence seems to make sense). Overuse of period songs: To a point this device worked well, but soon it started to feel like every other scene had a familiar period pop song as score – most a little too on-the-nose in their lyrics or meaning. This is a particular flaw at the very end of the film, when the crashing in of an up-tempo pop song short-circuits a moment of great emotional intensity I would have liked to have been able to sit with and emotionally experience. And while it's great that a gay love story can now feel little different than a straight one in style, that's maybe not great when that style sometimes feels as familiar and mainstream as any slightly bland Hollywood movie. Add to that, some of the worst age make up I can remember seeing in a long time (trying desperately to make two very adult looking actors come off as teenagers at the start of the story), and a tendency to skip too quickly over the character elements of these two men that weren't directly about their relationship -- so that even after over 2 hours I felt frustrated that I didn't know more about these two as individuals -- which would have given added shape to the story of how their lives joined into one. A worthwhile and admirable film, but one that I couldn't quite get myself to love, no matter how much I wanted to.

ekeby ...showing the story of two teenagers through to their early 30s. Both the book and movie were unknown to me, so I came at this without expectations. This movie succeeds with material that is very familiar--if not overly familiar--to gay men like myself. That in itself is quite an accomplishment. What starts out as a simplistic story of high school romance becomes an epic tale spun out for 127 minutes. I was surprised by the honesty of the story, and surprised that the two lead actors could seamlessly--and convincingly--go from teenagers to adults. It is not easy to take everyday events and stitch them up into an epic. This movie does that, and it does it well.If I had known the plot in advance, I probably wouldn't have gone near this film with a 10-foot pole. I'm glad I didn't know because I would have missed a really good movie.If you're young and gay and want to get an accurate look at what life was like for us in the '70s and '80s, this is the movie to see. For Americans, that it's set in Australia is irrelevant; the story was the same.

Matthew H I was finally able to watch this movie today after much hype and critical acclaim. When a movie is so hyped i find myself extra difficult to please as my expectations are so high. This film was different to what i thought it would be. But it hit me so much harder than i thought it would. A movie set in the 70-80's i wonder how it related to now all these years later. It was in fact more heart wrenching seeing how far the LGBT community has come in terms of equality and acceptance. While we still seem a government away from legalising gay marriage in Australia, this movie showed just how far we have come and we have come far.The performances by all the actors were spot on. Ryan Corr was so believable at every moment. He played the gay character without stereotype and over performance. He was delicate and sensitive is portraying a very honest performance which is so far away from himself in reality which made me admire even more his beautiful portrayal of Tom. Craig Stott was brilliant as well, both actors carried the movie. All performances were important and added to the film.There were certainly a few very poignant scenes that had me very choked up. It truly is a beautiful love story. I saw the Dressmaker late last year and this movie is without a doubt more honest and genuine while it had a limited release. Holding the Man is an important film is Australian cinema and achieved its message on all fronts. Was very impressed and thoroughly enjoyed this film.