Good concept, poorly executed.

Fantastic!

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

A Masterpiece!

A well constructed biographic of epic proportions.

Just nothing new to witness. One guy posted "Built with imposing emotional depth, Sweet Country is an angry discourse on racism" or as I would say, crap. We've all seen films about slavery and ruling empires for decades and this is just a diluted version. Watch "Roots" from the late 70's as this is just a watered down version of that.

Kudos to writer/Director Thornton and a cast featuring Australia's finest for a searing drama. It is the kind of film that should make Australians proud. True, the film looks at a shameful chapter of the continent's history...a time of open racism. With spare cinematic techniques, no music, wide open visuals and spaces in the dialogue, Thornton tells a tale that is heartfelt, shocking and contains a grain of hope. Australians should know that citizens from other countries admire and even envy ground-breaking artworks like this film. I'm Canadian and I can attest that no Canadian film has reached this degree of cultural and artistic significance. Having lived in the US for decades, it should surprise no one that American films rarely cut to the bone as Sweet Country does. Australia may not be perfect but it is indeed a Sweet Country that confronts its past, achieves artistic originality and gives filmmakers a voice. Worth seeing, but not by those who are looking for a convential western cowboys and indians fable.

As an Australian, I certainly had high hopes for this movie. Bryan Brown and Sam Neill are very capable actors as their respective resumes will attest and the Aboriginal actors (who I have not seen act before) held their own very well. The Australian outback landscape is the winner in this film though, harsh and unforgiving. If you're ever wanting to see the outback, this movie gives you a good taste of it - with flies to boot. Unfortunately, this film stagnates for far too long. The scenes themselves make sense but they could have edited this experience down, as another reviewer said, to about an hour. I found myself bored after a short time. The other problem that I personally felt with it is it goes along with the PC notion that Black is Right and White is Blight... The white actors in general, are shown to be racist, foulmouthed and treat the Aboriginals like dirt and I find myself tired of this portrayal in the media today. Yes, I understand that Europeans did treat the natives in Australia with disrespect, murder even but our history - though not often spoken about - also includes black on white crime, again, this includes rape and murder. Any culture cannot move forward by continuing to look backwards and this sort of cinematic portrayal perpetuates this and lays on the white guilt, so prevalent these days, rather thickly. I would have been happier to see even a 'Hollywood' version where both sides bridge the gap, so to speak. It would have left me with a feeling of hope for our cultures instead of thinking that this was more fodder for the politically correct bandwagon.