gayle-23652 This film is simply wonderful. it is refreshing to watch a film where family, friends, love, loyalty and hope are the main part of the story. I laughed and cried. Such a beautiful film. Definitely worth a watch.

leonmandrake I grew up in the South West of Western Australia where this was filmed. I could relate well to the material and clearly Simon Baker has a love for the material as well. This is essentially a 'coming of age' movie.

edmondsmicah As many others have noted, the photography for this film is noteworthy, and the production elements do indeed bleed into an Australian style I can identify with as a resident and citizen. I'm familiar with Simon Baker's work and it was interesting to see him try a hand at directing. I look forward to seeing him have another crack with a story which deserves to be told, instead of the meandering, unremarkable stroll of unlinked scenes this screenplay boasts.It's difficult to say where the fault lies, but there's a remarkable lack of "big-picture" focus across what little narrative is here. There are far too many scenes that barely take up any time and barely relate to other scenes. So much time is wasted watching characters do so little. There's so little through line or plot that the film relies on sparse retrospective narration to give even an ounce of purpose to it's movement. And despite being directed by one of the most implicitly charming Australian actors working today, the film is devoid of a single likable character. I don't blame the lead actor for this, but any interest I had in seeing his journey play out at all waned extremely quickly, because he has no admirable traits or goals, and those who surround him are similar. The character has so little agency, traits come and go. The teenage tropes the story plays with from time to time are played for too straight, as if someone believed the Australian coming-of-age plot hidden in here required to tone of a moody British independent film. The sexual parts of this film aren't so much off putting and poorly handled (although they are) as they are an indicator of how little steam the initial premise of the narrative has. - Boring kid likes surfing. Kid gets scared sometimes. Cool. I guess they do what they can with that before moving onto some tactless pedophilia subject matter with zero-self awareness, which also ultimately goes nowhere. All in all not a good use of anyone's time. Not sure I'll remember a single thing about it in a year, except the bile that rose up in my throat during the bag scenes, causing me to momentarily leave a theatre for the first time in my living memory. Earn your emotion.

Steve Reilly I read the book 10 years ago. I've read most of Tim Winton's work and I must confess to always ending up a little disappointed because I'm always looking for another "Cloudstreet"; a work of genius I've read three times. (the three-part TV mini-series is worth a look as well). But back to "Breath". The book opens with an horrific scene which gives meaning to the title. The movie does not. After the opening scene in the book the story presses on with purpose. The movie does not. And nothing in the movie really does give meaning to the title. I found it kind of directionless and ultimately unsatisfying. Tim Winton was involved with the screen play - I think he wasn't paying attention. The surfing scenes were well done but nothing you can't see on YouTube. I was really looking forward to seeing this movie, but I can't give it a high score. 4 out of 10. Wait for the DVD.