Is about a young teenager Thomas who's taking a life guarding or swimming course (the one thing I wasn't to sure of throughout the film was whether he went to a swim academy or school), while living with his father who works in a army base hence why they constantly have to keep moving and his Mother played by one of my favourite actresses Toni Collete. His brother charlie has autism and the film is mostly surrounding the struggles Thomas has living with his unconventional family members and how he's constantly helping out his mother and being distracted by Charlie. Throughout the film you can see how incredibly frustrating it is for Thomas as Charlie overshadows him constantly and making it hard for him to do anything. His mother is expecting a third child which makes everything even more complicated. Whilst he's going about his daily struggles he meets a fellow girl in his swim practise and they instantly click. Gemma Ward the famous model plays the young girl and gives an surprisingly brilliant performance her mannerisms and body language were incredible and you really believed her innocence and heart warningly friendly attitude towards every situation. As Thomas and Jackie's (ward) feelings become stronger towards each other she begins interacting more with his brother Charlie and gets on well with him.
One night just throws Thomas over the edge on his sixteenth birthday Charlie begins acting inappropriately at the dinner table and embarrasses him extremely in front of Jackie and he has a violent outburst smashing items in the house and then Charlie reacts and becomes violent towards him also. The films ending is a little bit underwhelming because it just cuts kind of abruptly but is still pretty satisfying because Charlie and Thomas mend their relationship and give a terrific performance in Charlies school play together. The cast was just brilliant and would love to see more films by Rhy Wakefields especially now because he's doing more American films and Gemma Ward also. Toni Collete is one of my favourite actresses and I love that she is so down to earth and still does independent films, and the fact she does films that usually concern dysfunctional relationships and families like 'About a Boys', 'Muriels Wedding', 'Mental', and many others. I would give this film a 9 out of ten I thought it was brilliant and the humour was very British and incredibly hilarious at times but also very saddening. Its a shame not many people will ever have access to the film or even heard of it because it is so amazing and beautifully shot, especially one scene where Thomas and Jackie are seen from above a lamppost looking down having a heart warming conversation.
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