Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

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 film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

This is one of those fine Aussie films that come along every so often, that we're truly blessed to see it. Real characters, real people, just like some of the good and great actors in this film, convincingly present. I must admit, I'm not really into tear jerker movies, and though this didn't make me cry, it made me recall memories of what it was like to be a teen. Another promising star was unleashed. Claudia Karvan, in her first film, was good, and her acting improved, years on, but still here, she was pretty good. A deserted child living with her grandmother in a caravan park in Eden, a bombshell arrives in the form of the deserted mother, Judy Davis, excellent, what else. A drunk, she tours with other dancers and a bad Elvis Impersonator (Frankie J Holden) a loser of a character, bloody good here, the head of this trashy group. As Davis's car has stalled, she takes residence in the caravan park, and becomes friends with, you guessed it, Claudia Karvan, who of course, doesn't recognize her mother, who left her when she was very young. But the grandma, mother to Karvan's father, definitely recognizes her, crossing angry grounds with her, warding her off from seeing her. Eventually Karvan, discovers the truth from a slip of the tongue by Davis' current boyfriend. So now we really have the really meaty bit of drama, that scene where daughter confronts mother, that moment of deliberation she can't lie when first answering "No". There's so many things, and real instances you can within this film, when being a teen, those private kisses, those self esteem issues, hair, etc. And too, disappointment, when you Nana says "No" to stuff. Frankie Holden is great in the second scene, the first has Karvan flat on her back on her board, on a cloud somewhere in daydream land. This film has memorable scenes that I recall now and then, while dozing off to movieland. The eighties were the best of times. I also too like the mechanic, who handled the lighter and cheerier scenes. The story and situations to decisions in this movie is handled with sheer realism. Careful film making like this should run more frequent with films of this type. And in the ending too, this counts double. I'm glad Davis's decision was the one I wanted her to make. For Aussie lovers of drama, this is a must see, a fine feature film of value. And for Karvan, this is a great vehicle, to have for a starting point, and on a resume.

Judy Davis stars as a backup singer to an Elvis Presley impersonator, who after being sacked by the imitation Man From Memphis rents a seaside trailer home by sheer chance right next door to the teenage daughter she abandoned as a baby. Once past that massive coincidence the story settles into a promising drama about a young girl's dawning awareness of her own identity, but the script reads too often like the unembellished daydreams of an adolescent orphan, wavering between sensitivity and self pity, and what should have been the emotional high points are smothered under some of the most portentous music in recent memory. In the end the scenario doesn't fully deliver on its potential, but scene for scene the film is certainly worth watching, and the characters are all rendered with sympathy, even in their less flattering moments. It may not represent a step forward in the careers of either Davis or director Gillian Armstrong, but it's nevertheless encouraging to still see movies being made Down Under that don't look like they've been produced by the Australian Tourist Council.

There's a certain allure I've always found in discovering the great unknown film. These discoveries have nearly always been dramatic stories. In my experience, unknown sci-fi, action and horror are unknown for very, very good reasons. I found "High Tide" on video at a junk store, mixed in amongst countless dozens of tapes of varying quality. Of course, that's the only place I would find it, as it is still not on DVD.While I was watching Judy Davis (as Lillie) throughout the course of this film, I was certain I was watching a great undiscovered performance. I had previously seen Davis in several small parts - and one starring role in "A Passage to India". But, although she was great in that film, "High Tide" is a different animal entirely. Judy Davis' performance is stunning, I cannot say enough good things about it. She shares an amazing on-screen relationship with young Claudia Karvan (as Ally), this film's other great actress. There's a lot of drama and quiet humanity they share together, the details of which I won't reveal here (see it for yourself!).There's too much good in "High Tide" to cover in one review, but the film speaks well enough for itself. Laura Jones writes stunning dialogue, beautiful words for the mouths of real people. Gillian Armstrong directs her actors toward a growing, powerful honesty. She turns everyday things into powerful, human depictions. I felt so alive and changed by the story this film tells. It's a weightless and strong depiction of running and staying put. You're welcome to make a choice.

There are very few performers today who can keep me captivated throughout an entire film just by their presence. One of those few is Judy Davis, who has built a successful career out of creating characters that are headstrong in attitude but very vulnerable at heart. She takes roles that most other performers would treat melodramatically and adds a fiery, deeply emotional intensity that pulls attention away from everything else on the screen.Her skills are well displayed in "High Tide," a film that matches her up a second time with director Gillian Armstrong, who gave Davis her first major success with "My Brilliant Career." In that film, Davis played a young woman who was determined to make it in the world, despite the suffocation she felt from her community and upbringing. In "High Tide," however, Davis' character, Lillie, is roughly the opposite: she gave up on any hope for her future when she was young, and, after giving birth to a child, runs from her responsibilities and takes up a life without direction or meaning. When she finally meets up with her daughter years later, the thought of taking care of her child is petrifying; she knows this is her chance to atone for her failures, but how can she be honest with her daughter and still gain her respect?Gillian Armstrong's films usually relate stories about characters who desperately want to communicate with each other, but face obstacles set up by their own personal habits and addictions. "Oscar and Lucinda," for instance, was about a man and a woman who desperately needed each other's love but were always blindsided by their craving for chance, represented by their gambling addictions. Here, we are immersed in the world of a family torn apart by the mother's inability to commit to a settled life and her struggles to redeem herself despite being fully convinced that it's too late to change for the better. This is not simply a film with a great performance at its center, but also a rare achievement: a fully convincing story of redemption.