Please don't spend money on this.

Great Film overall

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

This film was Australia's bad attempt to make a gay film similar to Shelter. It was okay, at times, but mostly it was just f*cked up. There was no point at all to the talking pictures and they just seemed out of place in the movie and there was no reason as to why they were talking. The whole relationship between Cass and the geography teacher was just about as f*cked up as they come. At least Midget was a sympathetic character, although it was quite mean of him to always have Cass as a second choice to Alice. There wasn't any real progress through the movie, in the end all the characters were stuck in the same place: Cass had run away again, Midget still lived with his mum and Alice stayed with her Aunt, another f*cked up character that didn't belong in the movie whatsoever. The only progress that was made was that Midget had had sex with a guy.There was one thing though, that I liked very much and that was Midget's mother. I liked how she was portrayed, by always being in bed and that the viewer never gets to see her face.On another note, I'd like to say that I'm a fan of realistic movies about realistic people, but this was like the director was trying to make the movie realistic but yet somehow, come up with such an unrealistic ending that I just wanted to turn the movie off.

Anyone who thinks this is a good film has obviously never seen a decent gay coming-of-age film. The acting and camera work are akin to a no-budget high school film, there are several characters that exist solely as a one line joke that isn't even funny, and the plot boarders on confusing with the main characters motivation jumping from 'love' to 'lust' from scene to seen.The least negative thing I can say about it is that the sex scenes were reasonably well shot, but that doesn't give you much else to look forward to for the other 90 minutes.Casting eyecandy does not excuse sloppy acting.

I thought I had seen more than enough gay coming of age stories. Some told well, others not so well. It's a genre that is unbeatable: pretty young thing figures out who he or she is.TAN LINES is a gay coming of age tale but it is amazingly up to date.This movie is a wonderful surprise---a small gem, really. The photograph on the DVD and the title are actually misleading. The actor on the cover is not the lead, though he is good.The standout performance in TAN LINES is the by the actor playing the main character. Jack Baxter is absolutely sensational as a smart and mouthy youth coming of age. He is attracted to other boys but also lets himself be distracted by females.The Australian director of this movie has done a gorgeous job of creating a totally believable world of young slacker/surfers. This screenplay for TAN LINES is smart, funny, sexy, interesting and compelling.Bravo to all involved, especially Jack Baxter!

It would be difficult to imagine a worse plot, crummier script, sloppier direction or more lack-lustre acting (but I don't blame the actors).Tan Lines pushes the envelope only in terms of what a viewer is willing to put up with in an effort to support queer cinema.There's some very careless film-work e.g. with the reflection of camera crew in clear view in one indoor night shot.No budget is so small that it would excuse what we see here as the final edit.The technical quality of the DVD is particularly low - but I'm guessing it is as good as it would ever get.The storyline is pure farce mixed with a liberal dash of the absurd. The intention is supposedly to tell a gay teen surfer's coming of age story, but the characters are simply not believable - and they're all terminally morose. This film has far too much teen angst and far too little heart.Only "Crazy Richard" gives "Tan Lines" a run for its money as the all time worst Australian film.