This movie has the beginning elements of a good story, but not much more. Like many Australian movies, it ambles along and has a distinct lack of dramatic peaks and troughs. Khoa Do has come up with a strong premise for his story about a group of working class guys going into battle against their own circumstances, but the script really needed much more rigorous development before being put to the screen. There are quite a few potentially interesting characters here, and it would have been good to see more of their stories. Some of the plot lines involving Luc and his sister do not ring true. I find it hard to believe that a government social worker would threaten to put the girl into foster placement because Luc can't pay her school fees. Surely it would be easier just to transfer her to a public school. When she is in hospital with severe asthma, she is on medication that makes her drowsy. This simply wouldn't happen, because it would worsen her respiratory failure. OK - call me picky, but if Khoa is trying to create a realistic drama as opposed to a leap-of-faith comedy like the grossly underrated Little Man, attention to detail can go a long way. One of the standout performances for me was from Matthew Johns. Although he was playing himself as a sports commentator, he appeared much more comfortable working with scripted lines than some of the other special guest footy stars. He's already proved himself as a competent comedic character actor on The Footy Show, so I'd love to see him in some more serious roles.
Review of Footy Legends
