Last Cab to Darwin (2015) User Reviews

Nearness to Death is Opportunity to Reassess Life

[Blue-Grotto · 8/10 · 8 November 2015]

"Drink your beer and shut up" is the essence of male culture in Australia. "Mateship" is the term for it. Rex, a 70 year old cab driver from Broken Hill in New South Wales, finds – as he must have already felt for a long time - that mateship is a double edged sword. He is diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer and can't bring himself to tell his friends or the woman he secretly loves. "There's no one else," he tells his doctor. Instead he drives his cab 2,000 plus miles across the Australian outback to Darwin where there is a newly opened and experimental euthanasia clinic. "Why," asks the woman who might have been his wife "did you not tell me?!" "You never asked," answers Rex, matter-of-factly. Rex has never seen the sea, among other things, and his eyes are opened to new scenery and people. His nearness to death is an opportunity to reassess his life and, like Odysseus, for adventure.

While much of the film is drama and serious in nature, it is also light-hearted. A mechanic tells Rex to keep his fluids up while driving in the desert, and Rex promptly goes into the bar for beer. One theme is the plight of Australia's aborigines. Whites took away much of their culture and stories, and as a result, who they are. The acting is really wonderful, especially the lead who is a veteran of Australian films and television and well-loved for such roles for his entire life. I love the ornate and wonderful arts and crafts homes as well as the scenery of Australia. The film is loosely based on a true story. The only real drawbacks are that it is somewhat predictable and short. Seen at the Toronto International Film Festival 2015.

A road movie with loads of heart and spirit. Another great Australian film

[david-rector-85092 · 8/10 · 18 September 2015]

Michael Caton has been a fixture on Australian screens since the 1970's thanks to TV shows like 'The Sullivans' and 'Packed to the Rafters'. His voice is quintessentially Aussie and his face and personality have made him a household name. His casting for this film is perfect and I can't even imagine another actor as Rex; so perfect is Caton, and such a gift for an actor who has mostly been the family uncle or grandad. Here he is, front and centre; stoic, three dimensional and instantly likable. Director Jeremy Sims, himself a TV and film actor, has elicited an award worthy performance from the veteran, but also helps young actor Mark Coles Smith as Tilly, make one of the year's best supporting turns. The camera just loves his wicked grin and his playful, easy charm. The film pulls no punches with some of the content surrounding both the indigenous characters such as Tilly, or the circumstances and realities of euthanasia. I was disappointed with Jacki Weaver here: she never looks or sounds comfortable with her character, and that is unfortunate as it is a linchpin to the film's trajectory, but Caton's 'Rex' is so unforgettable, that he carries even the weaker elements of the movie. Beautifully photographed and capturing the visceral parts of the landscape and the terrain, 'Last Cab To Darwin' is not a perfect film, but an enjoyable and significant one, and a rewarding one for its leading actor.

A likable and unique Australian tinged road-trip through life and the dusty outback

[eddie_baggins · 7/10 · 13 December 2015]

One of the great Australian success stories of a very profitable 2015 for local films, Jeremy Sims Last Cab to Darwin scored over 7 million dollars in local box office receipts this year and garnered an equal share of critical and audience good will that will likely see it become a staple in collections of local film lovers for years to come.

Adapting Reg Cribb's successful stage play of the same name and casting Australian identity Michael Caton in the role that he portrayed in that very play, Sims has done a fine job at transplanting a play into a feature length film and his capturing of the dusty plains of outback Australia as Caton's dying cab driver and lonely soul Rex heads off on a road trip from South Australia's Broken Hill to Darwin is one of the films highlights.

But it's not all smooth sailing for Sim's as he finds trouble maintaining momentum in the film which starts off particularly strong and engaging but through a misguided and cliché ridden final act loses stem, particularly with a bunch of side characters that feel slightly underdeveloped and also far to "movie like" to feel real.

Caton delivers what could well be his finest ever moment as Rex a man we come to care for in a short period of time and Caton's experience with both comedy and drama serve him well as he balances a nice line between humour and pathos. Rex's journey (which is supposedly based around some true events) feels real and emotion filled but with the film itself set up for a 2 hour long trip, Rex's ride to be euthanized before cancer slowly kills him gets filled with Mark Coles Smith's (who sadly overplays) lost young man Tilly and Emma Hamilton's English ex-pat Julie's loving nurse and both these characters while at moments help the film along also take a little too much away from the film and it would've been nice to have seen them play smaller roles and Sims to have had more faith in Caton to carry the film along as he was seemingly more than up to the task.

One of the better feel good (and sad) Australian movies in some time, The Last Cab to Darwin would be an incredibly hard films to dislike and while it never breaks out into being an undeniably standout classic, its deserving of its warm reception and likely long standing place in the hearts of Australian movie goers that found themselves investing in this likable tale of one man's journey to find himself in world that seemingly passed him by.

3 ½ cat trees out of 5

A funny film that can mess with your head about assisted dying

[CineMuseFilms · 11 February 2016]

A widely recognised characteristic of Australian film is our capacity to find humour in almost any subject. When people from other places try to describe our national character, they use words like larrikin, irreverent, or iconoclastic, meaning we like to laugh at ourselves and the sacred cows in our patch. So how do you laugh at dying, let alone make an Aussie comedy out of a road film that has euthanasia as its destination?

Aussie icons Michael Caton and Jackie Weaver provide the larrikin mix of gravitas and humour needed to make a deadly serious issue bearable as we share the journey and the end-of-life issues facing the terminally ill cab driver Rex. He has never been outside Broken Hill and must drive 3,000 kms to Darwin to be the first person who is legally assisted to die by Weaver who plays a feminine version of Dr Death (as euthanasia advocate Philip Nitschke was called). Like in all road films, he crosses iconic landscapes and encounters bad things. He also meets some beautiful characters like the Pommie backpacker Julie who becomes his nurse, a mischievous Aboriginal Peter Pan-type called Tilly, and Polly, the Aboriginal neighbour and secret lover he left behind but calls regularly. The back story of our nation's inept relationship with the traditional owners of our land frames much of Rex's journey, just as it continues to frame our evolving national identity.

While it is an entertaining Aussie yarn, that's not its only purpose. Superb acting by Caton in particular brings you up close and very personal to the emotional and practical challenges of picking a time and place to die with dignity. The film can get heavy-handed in the way it loads political and moral messages into the story; for example, when Tilly yells at Rex "You think its brave to let someone else do your dying for you?" we are confronted with different ways of looking at assisted dying. Rex makes it to Darwin only to find medical and legal confusion, so things do not turn out as expected. For some, it's a distracting edit to have Rex back home in minutes when it took half the film to get there, but perhaps this reflects the truncation of time when the time has come. Be warned: this is a film that can mess with your head about the complex issue of assisted dying, but it's an Aussie gem well worth the effort.

Good movie

[thenekassyni · 7/10 · 12 January 2016]

I've read the negative reviews of the movie and it appears they have little sympathy for the harsh reality of the film LMAO. If I wanted to see a beautiful Australia or doing right to Aborigines I go watch nature channel or Crocodile Dundee. The unwillingness to accept the fate the movie has bestow to the viewer at front is astonishing mind boggling they deserve their own Darwin award.

The movie is sad, it's depressing. It's not going to make you feel good aside from the few moments. So if you're expecting something entirely different than what it's going to give you then you're going to have to join the negative reviewers and grab yourself a Darwin award.

Whether Rex lives or dies is inconsequential. It's his denial of his life and the people around him that is in question.

Enjoy the movie. It's not a great movie but it's a good movie worth watching.

uplifting with fantastic scenery

[pelicanbarbara · 10/10 · 11 August 2015]

I thought this one of the best movies I have seen in a long, long time and up there with the Castle and the Dish. I thought the acting throughout good and especially Michael Caton and the actor who played Tilley who I found to be a lovable rogue. The story line was sad, but was very thought provoking when thinking about and discussion euthanasia. All in all I really enjoyed the story and especially loved seeing the outback of Australia. I cried a lot but I also laughed a lot and would recommend this movie to any age (except children of course) and hope that many people go to see it. I also hope that it is up there when the movie award come out.

An Australian Classic that will make you laugh and cry

[gallae · 10/10 · 15 August 2015]

I saw this film yesterday, choosing it over both "Fantastic Four" and "The Man from UNCLE" and it was a good choice. The trailer - which I saw on tube - only gives you the basic scenario of the film, but NOT what it's about. I have to admit I chose it because it featured Michael Caton, who was also in another classic Aussie film *The Castle*. He, and the other actors in this film have been cast really well. I particularly like Ningali Lawford-Wolf as Polly, and Mark Coles Smith as Tilley.

The film made me laugh and cry, partly because it tapped into my own family history, But I loved the background to this story - the red and greens of the outback, the houses with tin roofs and rock fences - they remind me of Kalgoorlie where I lived at an early age . Also the film, which is based on a play by Reg Cribb, doesn't shy away from social issues that won't go away, but is ultimately uplifting in what it says.

Some discoveries come at the last hours of the life.

[Reno-Rangan · 7/10 · 14 February 2016]

When a movie is based on the play, setting wise it will be a tight narration. But the advantage is, movies can expand its screenplay in the natural world where stage plays has a limitation with the fake backgrounds. And obviously movies can reach any corner of the earth in the todays digital world while plays are for a limited live audience. So I think that is how this play turned into a motion picture, importantly, it was funded by the government and all the above it won a couple of Australian Academy Awards.

It was a cancer themed thin comedy-drama with a little road adventure in the backdrop. A story that follows a 70-year-old cab driver Rex from Broken Hill. He has never been outside his town until he finds he has a cancer, so he takes a 3000 kilometer drive to Darwin looking for a doctor who can help him with his suffering. At the dusk hours of his life, he encounters some strangers and many stuffs for the first time. So this film is all about his final and best experience in the end of the life journey.

I like sentimental films, I chose it because I haven't felt the emotions through my heart for a movie in the recent time. I expected it to fulfill my desire, but it only fell short. To me it was a decent movie in the first half, but it got better in the next half. The opening was kind of slow and dry, the cast was totally unfamiliar to me. I needed time to get used to a sudden change of accent after watching so many Hollywood flicks. Because you know we don't watch Aussie movies everyday and so the style of comedies differs with the different region.

"You want everything to be black and white, but it's not. It's gray."

The best thing ever happened was the introduction of the characters Tilly and Julie. One is an aboriginal and the other is a British who joins Rex, the Aussie. They are the main source for the story to grow in the right direction. Because of them the narration had a subplot to focus their perspectives as well. Without them definitely it would have been a worthless flick.

The end was not at its best. It hat many options, but they decided to finish it in an uncertain manner. Since it was a road movie, I also anticipated exhibition of beautiful Australian landscapes, that never came. I understand they don't want distraction from the main plot, because this was one of those films that took time for the characters to settle down. Even though it approaches the conclusion, the characters had kept deepening in its development.

My upset with the movie was, it was a quite different from the usual cancer films. Precisely to say, it was very weak in the exhibition of character feelings. Certainly it won't make you weep. Just like one of the lines at the beginning that says 'everyone gets cancer', the movie was too casual like this is a regular thing. But the scenario where the story sets in and takes us with it was exceptional. I have a hesitation to recommend it, but it is a good movie if you're okay with the thing I expressed which are lacking.

6½/10

okay with some good moments

[proud_luddite · 6/10 · 12 May 2018]

In a small town in New South Wales, Austrailia, Rex (Michael Caton) is a septuagenarian cab driver who learns he has fourth stage cancer. As he is determined to avoid dying in a hospital, he takes on a journey of travelling thousands of kilometers to Darwin in another state (Northern Territory) where legislation is in progress to legalize euthanasia.

In addition to the affable Rex, the viewer is blessed with other interesting characters in Rex's town and those he meets during his journey. They include Polly (Ningali Lawford-Wolf), his aboriginal neighbour who is also his occasional secret lover; Tilly (Mark Coles Smith), a young, aboriginal man who is likeable but carries a lot of emotional baggage; Julie (Emma Hamilton), a nurse from London who is taking a break from her job as she lives and works in Australia; and Dr. Farmer (Jacki Weaver), the doctor in Darwin who is spearheading the campaign to legalize euthanasia.

Rex is an interesting character and quite funny (as is much of the film) but it's hard to get why he would go through so much in his condition to reach his goal. It's also difficult to believe that he could drive such a long journey, mostly on his own. Polly, Tilly, and Julie are all delightful and engaging. Their individual stories add greatly to the movie's impact. Weaver does her best as Farmer but it's really hard to get this character and her motives as the movie progresses in the second half.

There could be good reasons to give this movie a 7 rating but there are flaws and unbelievable moments that bring in down a notch.

Beautiful heart wrenching film

[sianydahling · 10/10 · 22 January 2016]

I actually signed up to IMDb just to write this review. Having stumbled upon this film by accident, I couldn't have been more moved. Michael Caton delivers an Oscar worthy performance that had me in tears throughout. In fact the entire cast deliver a completely immersive experience that transported me to the Australian outback, in particular the actors who played Polly and Tilly.

And there is no doubt the performances would have shone so brightly without an incredible script. The story is one of both joy and sadness and despite the fact I hate to cry I just could not stop watching.

I am a huge fan of the film Australia because of the incredible scenery, which is partly why I decided to give this (which I heard nothing about) a try. I was not disappointed. Everything about this film is beautiful.

The adventures of a terminally ill old man who learns the date of his death and then travels for days to die easily. It was unrealistic for a seriously ill old man to travel.

[yasananlarim · 7/10 · 24 December 2022]

The story is about an old man with a terminal illness who learns the date of his death and then travels for days to an easy death and his adventures on this journey. The story also tells about this old man's longing for his youth, his job as a taxi driver, and his special relationship while all these adventures are going on. This story has themes of love, life, death and youth.

It was unrealistic for a seriously ill old man to travel alone for days. Also, the doctor character's euthanasia machine was very ordinary. More realistic material should have been used for such a good story.

All in all, the movie could have been much better. Other than that, the story of the movie was good. Also, the actors were good. It was worth watching.

Boring drawn out politically correct attempted PR for Aussie tourism industry

[synaptec · 1/10 · 5 January 2016]

This movie is absolute complete and utter garbage.

Us Aussies, are such great magnanimous, liberal, egalitarian, multicultural heroes.

What can you say when you're so damn awesome. The main (caucasian) character has an aboriginal girlfriend/wife. Wow! How cool is that? But that's not enough here folks. No, no, no .. let's add a guess what? A young male aboriginal, hip talking, almost picked for AFL footy player, road trip pal. The casting here is just blowing me away. And just to make sure its "real Aussie", let's chuck in Caton and the obligatory Weaver. I thought they were both dead already. Oh no, that was the referenced Northern Territory euthanasia legislation, 20 somewhat years ago. Nothing like a current and topical story. Let's not forget another critical casting component for potential UK tourist appeal; a beer pulling babe from London who just happens to be a nurse. Perfect.

After reading the film's blurb I was ready for an "epic journey" where Caton "does things and meets people who force him to re-evaluate his life".

Having personally suffered for more than 2 hours without morphine, I just need to share that I'm going to re-evaluate my life. I'm off to contact Lifeline and BeyondBlue, concurrently, via conference call, just to be sure. If anything in this review raises similar concerns with you or a loved one, please do likewise on 13 11 14 or 1300 22 4636. And always see your doctor, if pain continues.

Mediocre but down to earth

[pensive_englishman · 6/10 · 30 May 2020]

Well as I have summarized movies 🎥 rely on conflict, controversy and paradox. So do I. I actually had my own moment of conflict as to whether to review this movie 🎥 as I am not 100 💯 per cent sure if I have the impulse for doing so. It is quite a mediocre film 🎞 partly because Australian made films usually don't have the same deep pocket as their American counterparts. Neither do they have the same level of world class cast and crew. We all know the best Aussies like Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Chris Hemsworth, Cate Blanchett and most recently Jai Courtney have long called Hollywood home 🏡. Even Eric Bana who still resides in Melbourne parachutes himself to Los Angeles when called to duty. Nevertheless this movie 🎥 has its own selling point with one thing being the topic. It talks about the controversial issues of euthanasia and assisted death 💀 and the alternative palliative care. Such topics can always open a can of worms 🐛 and deeply divide public as well as private opinions. It's not about life and death 💀 but rather death 💀 alone. What are you going to do on your last leg? I guess such issues will never be consented with the infighting between governments, politicians, rights activists and religious groups. Poor little wretches of human beings, there is nothing I can do but pitying you. The other topic is decisions or indecisions in life. Apparently the cabbie seeking to die has had very conflicting feelings about whether it's the right decision to make. At one stage he appears certain that this is what he really wants but then right at the moment he was to be injected with the lethal dose he reneged. Such is life, isn't it? Even in real life we sometimes find the long sought objectives have some or even quite significant variance to our expectations. What I also like about this film 🎞 is the natural and cultural background. It is shot in the outback of Australia 🇦🇺 with beautiful scenery and indigenous culture on the backdrop. As a person who gets used to or at times fed up with the busy life in Sydney I find it a visual and cultural shock, a good shock I should add. It is just such a BEAUTIFUL and diverse (both naturally and culturally) country. Perhaps that accords with the Tourism Australia's slogan "There's nothing like Australia 🇦🇺." In relation to the cast I last saw Jacki Weaver in person in 2016 at the State Theatre 🎭 on Goldstone inaugural screening. She is a very down to earth 🌍 actress just like any average Australians. So I think 🤔 that's the end of my review. It's a movie 🎥 closer to life without the fanfare and glamour of its Hollywood counterparts although I personally think 🤔 movies 🎥 should be larger than life. I definitely have no adverse feeling to this artwork 🖼.

Best Australian movie in years

[mailes22 · 9/10 · 16 August 2015]

What a terrific film on all levels. It's been released for a few weeks now, but drew a reasonable sized crowd on a Sunday night on the back of strong press reviews. I think it's going to continue to pull in crowds on the strength of word of mouth recommendations. Including mine.

Generally I'm not a fan of Australian films but this one is great. Starting with the cast. Michael Caton was excellent and had surprising depths in his performance that I never expected him to have. The only weak link in the cast is Jackie Weaver, despite having "Academy Award Nominee" forever attached to her name now. Even though many of the support cast were not well known actors, only Weaver's acting was poor. She looked like "I'm acting this" with nearly every line she delivered. The young guy who played Tilly was fantastic - and surprisingly convincing in his one emotionally vulnerable scene.

Secondly, the script. I heard one radio reviewer say that the dialogue by 'blackfellas' in movies is usually very obviously written by white writers, and rarely rings 'true'. Similarly, writers who want to shoehorn Australian colloquialisms into a movie or stage play often do it in a very clumsy way. But in Last Cab to Darwin, the dialogue does ring true and the writers are to be congratulated.

Next, the themes. This is not a 90 minute 'quickie' of a movie. It has real depth, not just on the issue of euthanasia, but also on black/white prejudices in country Australia, and the movie doesn't skirt around indigenous social problems either.

Then there's the scenery. Spectacular. And I bet the places featured along Rex's road trip enjoy an upturn in visitor numbers in the next year or so as a result of this film.

Finally there's the humour. It is quintessentially Australian dry humour and it's quick and subtle and sprinkled throughout. The best line is the one about the dog's name. Still making me chuckle even now - as much as anything because you didn't see it coming at the time and Michael Caton's delivery was perfect.

As Molly Meldrum would say: do yourself a favour and go and see it.

Worth watching despite some weaknesses

[kf_gp · 7/10 · 9 January 2022]

I enjoyed the characters and the road trip to Darwin. A number of issues explored. I did however think it got a bit off track and eye rolling in the last quarter of the film as the director/writer tried to conjure up a bit off extra drama for the audience. Last scene was however very well done.

Working out the issue on a road trip

[ccorral419 · 10/10 · 12 January 2016]

Last Cab to Darwin. Making "The Best of Fest" list at the Palm Spring International Film Festival, this touching film out of Australia follows Broken Hill taxi driver (Rex - Michael Caton) who spends his days in transporting locals to and from, his nights drinking beers with his buddies (excellent character actors John Howard, David Field and Alan Dukes), and occasionally ending his evenings with his aboriginal neighbor Polly (star is born: Nignali Lawford). When he learns he has terminal cancer, he leaves everything behind and embarks on 1,865 mile road trip to meet a doctor (the always terrific Jacki Weaver - Silver Linings Playbook) who has an euthanasia machine. Ready to face the end on his own, his road trip forces him to live outside of his box, as he picks up a cheery hitchhiker (the very funny Tilly - Mark Coles Smith) and bar maid/nurse (Julie - Emma Hamilton). Director Jeremy Sims, along with cinematographer Steve Arnold, beautifully capture the outbacks appeal and desolation. While Caton, Lawford, Smith and Hamilton are relative unknowns in the US, if this film obtains distribution they will quickly gain stateside recognition. This road trip movie covers plenty of issues, and what better place to work things out then on the road.

The best movie that you have never watched

[jperrier-565-744355 · 9/10 · 17 January 2020]

This movie takes my vote for the most unheralded and underrated movie ever. It has so many wonderful facets to it that it is hard to do them all justice.

First, is a wonderful exploration of euthanasia, somehow managing to explore every aspect of this impossible subject without preaching, judging or (praise be due) virtue signalling.

Second, the setting is magnificent : the whole story unfolds on a backdrop of genuine outback Australia. The characters in the pubs, the landscapes and even the little details (the sound of the outback crickets at night) are all rendered with perfection.

Third, it is Beautifully written, with dialogue true to the Aussie outback vernacular, and utterly true to its mission.

This movie is also a warts-and-all exploration of aboriginal Australia that papers over nothing. It exposes the awful reality of many outback towns ( drunkenness, homelessness) yet somehow leaves you feeling optimistic at the same time. They somehow achieve this impossible task without you realising that you were just watching a movie.

If the characters in this movie seem a bit agricultural, or if the scenery appears a little contrived, then I have just one piece of advice for you: get out a bit more. This is a very true representation of outback, red-dirt Australia in all its glory.

I've watched thousands of movies in my time, and rated many hundreds of them . But this is the first time I have been compelled to write a written review. This movie deserves to be recognised as a wonderful and timeless addition to the chronicles of bare raw-boned Australian cinematography, while simultaneously tackling the impossible subject of euthanasia with insight and balance.

I rate it a masterpiece. Gee I hope you agree.

All roads lead to Darwin

[tomsview · 8/10 · 17 September 2016]

Scriptwriter Reg Cribb and director Jeremy Simms have taken the true-life story of Max Bell and put a lens on attitudes about the right to die and aspects of Australian society most of us rarely see.

The film, based on Reg Cribb's 2003 stage play, commences in Broken Hill. Rex, a cabbie played by Michael Caton, has a long-standing relationship with Polly his Aboriginal neighbour. Both have somewhat abrasive personalities, but they complement each other perfectly.

When Rex is diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer, he learns that the Northern Territory has legalised euthanasia. He decides to leave and drive his cab to Darwin to have an assisted death rather than face a lingering one in hospital.

Rex's trip to Darwin is not unlike the journey of the three protagonists in "The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert", its across roughly the same area and ends up in the same place, but like that earlier film, it's also a journey of discovery. Along the way, Rex becomes involved with a number of people and they change each other's lives.

Although the film alters Max Bell's experience considerably, "Last Cab to Darwin" allows for another journey; the one through the divide in Australian society that started in 1788 when the original inhabitants and the European settlers were thrown together.

The film seems to reinforce certain stereotypes about Indigenous Australians, especially in the role of Tilly (Mark Coles Smith), however in other ways it shows them as more sharing and less obsessed with material possessions. Tilly's character emerges as a complex one, although brash and cocky on the surface, his underlying fears and self doubts are revealed.

The setting for the film is during that brief period in the mid 1990's when euthanasia was legalised in the Northern Territory, but was quickly shut down by federal law. The film doesn't necessarily advocate euthanasia though; both sides of the argument are played out.

Finally, the performances are so real that some scenes are hard to watch. Michael Caton gave us a modern Australian icon with his Darryl Kerrigan in "The Castle", but he surpasses himself here.

The last scene in "Last Cab to Darwin" is a lump in the throat moment. Maybe the film won't have much of a following outside Australia, but its central theme of the right to die with dignity is universal.

A very touching slice of life

[eladale-90211 · 9/10 · 5 February 2016]

Every now and again, a movie strikes home for me. We all suffer loss and have fears of the unknown. A movie like Last Cab to Darwin finds a way to address both in a palatable, but in a touching, oh-so human way.

Kudos to the ensemble for the fine acting, wonderful cinematography, directing, and imagery invoked in scene after scene. This is an intelligent, deeply moving story. The film's two dimensional representations of rural Australia and it's inhabitants belie the depth of this story. These were artfully used as the canvas upon which complicated characters and rich allegorical reflections on life were illustrated. Any time there seemed to be a cliché developing, it was spun into an important insight or revelation.

Michael Caton's portrayal of Rex was simply amazing. A good actor's work will be described as believable...realistic. But a performance like this one goes beyond believable. You feel like you have always known this character personally. He is the workaday everyman. He could be your neighbor, an old friend, or a mate from work that you have beers with on payday. You are comfortable around him. When he hurts, you feel real compassion for him. You share in his feelings of fulfillment when he triumphs. Caton takes you along on this ride, not by force, but because you don't want to leave him. He asks for nothing, yet the grip of this character is so powerful you can't turn away from him. He is quietly deserving. We want to give to him. He is us, after all. We give to him as we would like to give to ourselves.

See this movie. It's a gem.

Well done to all involved

[MrCods · 9/10 · 8 January 2022]

What a sad and amazing story. This movie was adapted from a stage play of the same name from 2003.

Was brilliantly acted by all those involved. Based on a true story. Very sad

Trivia During the time that the Northern Territory had legalised euthanasia, three people died through physician assisted suicide. The first of these was to be Max Bell, a terminally ill cab driver from Broken Hill. Max Bell did drive his cab from Broken Hill to Darwin to complete the procedure, but no specialist doctor would provide the required confirmation. Max returned home to Broken Hill and died "a natural death" in hospital. Bob Dent, a local Darwin man, became the first to die under the new law the following month.

Another great Australian film. Recommended viewing. ( Australian B +Movie ) My Ratings 8/10

[THE-BEACON-OF-MOVIES-RAFA · 8/10 · 17 March 2020]

A wonderful Australian movie; deeply Aussie, and essentially humane! A must see if you love Australia or if you are curious to understand this breathtaking continent and fabulous people.

Learning Life's Lessons

[SwollenThumb · 8/10 · 21 May 2018]

Stay with this. I misjudged it before it really got started. Michael Caton is brilliant. And very few Australian movies have so many indigenous characters or tackle racism. Will cabdriver Rex learn life's lessons before it's too late? The Outback setting is a bonus - the most effective since Priscilla Queen of the Desert! (viewed 4/17)

Pure Aussie Cinema

[graemegeohall · 10/10 · 9 May 2021]

Last Cab to Darwin has all the hallmarks of being being an Australian icon of cinema. However, as it deals with euthanasia and death, it is uncomfortable subject matter. It is in truth though, a celebration of life, adventure, Australia, people of this land and humans facing personal realities. It is a wonderful story, evenly paced, with real characters, all perfectly cast and all acting immaculately. The soundtrack is by an icon of underground Aussie music, songwriter and guitarist Ed Kuepper. The cinematography is wonderful but not overdone, constantly highlighting the beauty of outback Australia. The editing is precise and well paced. The script is excellent, full of humour and pure Australian lingo, people and scenarios. The country backgrounds are like a character in themselves. Every minor character adds a perfect balance to the main character Rex, played by Michael Caton at his finest. Especially well portrayed in a positive light are the many indigenous characters and situations, especially Polly played by Ningali Lawford . This film has very few weaknesses and I defy viewers to watch through it without tears of joy, sadness, dignity and a humane vision.

A beautiful Australian film

[puskullu_moruk · 8/10 · 19 October 2023]

A beautiful Australian film that tells the story of a man who re-understands the meaning of life and re-evaluates it as he approaches death.

Rex, a taxi driver in broken hill, learns that he has very little time left to live due to his illness. He decides to go to darwin in the north of australia to be euthanised in a clinic in order to die the way he wants. The people rex encounters on the road cause him to question life and to re-evaluate his whole life with its good and bad sides.

It was a film I watched randomly. Of course, to his credit, michael caton was the important factor in my hand going to the play button. So it met more than my expectations. I think if i were to recommend an australian film to someone, i would start with this one. Because there is road adventure, there is friendship, there is comedy, there is sadness and most importantly there is life and death. It is fun to see the Australian outback. The acting is great; especially the Australian native actor who plays Tilley is of a quality we would like to see in many films. The story is sad but thought-provoking about euthanasia and open to discussion. It was a nice coincidence that I watched Mar Adentro a few days ago and this one came on top of it.

Great Australian Film

[socrates4 · 8/10 · 28 April 2019]

LAST CAB TO DARWIN is like a cross between a regular movie and a super awesome Australian movie. It's the type of thing I wouldn't mind seeing lots more of. It's loads of fun with a great story and some good drama. It's very engaging and entertaining.

The acting is great, as is the directing. I love everything about this film. It's very well cast. It has some good laughs but also some very dramatic moments. Highly recommend.