Sample People (2000) Reviews

• A BOLD, BRASH AND EXCITING MESS OF A FILM

  jarrod762000-05-12

  The critics have been less than kind to 'Sample People' - so I had expectations that the film will be somewhat of a dud when I saw it. Many of the criticisms of the film are correct; it's a little derivative and quite a messy film - but that's part of it's charm. It's quite brave for an Australian film - it's noisy, colourful and never boring. It contains strong performances from Nathan Page, Ben Mendelsohn, Kylie Minogue and David Field; and a brilliant soundtrack of Australian artists covering classic Australian songs. The film's production design is excellent - it looks like a Gregg Araki film, and the editing and cinematography are relentlessly brash. It's imperative that people go and support films such as this - a low budget Aussie indie pic, because lack of support from critics and lack of distribution and publicity will mean that it remains unseen by the young adult demographic it is intended for. 'Sample People' (brilliant title) is as good as any film I have seen this year.

• repulsive

  ptb-82005-03-26

  What a nasty cynical film. Apparently this sad excuse for a dramatic urban look at what 20 year olds do whilst crawling through the gutter of Sydney nightlife is supposed to be somehow connecting with its target market. Made by some Industry nobody and pals who seemingly thought they could cobble together any sleazy behavior with a young cast and pour it into multiplexes, SAMPLE PEOPLE deservedly failed miserably at the Australian box office. It is so offensive in its clichéd depictions of obvious and easy targets it was fully rejected by the very audience it was intended. Shoddy and cruel and with no attempt to offer quality or resonance to the young audience who might have been attracted by the marketing or casting SAMPLE PEOPLE might have been interesting or even informative if not botched by its exploitive view of 'what teens want to see in a movie'. The character played by Ben Mendelsohn is particularly offensive and Kylie Minogue is again wasted by poor material and untalented film makers. It is as if the producers thought teens would watch any ugly trash and just slung-together scenes and characters who were shallow and soul less. Well the were very wrong. A mini budget film made in 1983 called GOING DOWN got this topic right and is an excellent antidote to this poison.

• Marketing Bluff - Kylie is barely in it.

  a-moss2006-03-14

  First: The recent campaigning of this movie is a huge hoax. Judging from the cover you'd think this was some kind of scandal movie about Kylie playing a character having sex, taking drugs and whatever. This is just a cheap market-scheme. She's barely in it and does neither of the things. The marketing here is unbelievable, and I'm surprised the filmmakers hasn't objected. The movie itself was to me a huge disappointment. It seemed like a Sunset Beach episode directed sloppy-handed by a teenage Quentin Tarantino. And thats not meant as a compliment, mind you. I think the weakness of the movie first of all is the story. It seems to be about nothing. Just about cool teenagers tripping around living 'on the edge'. The characters themselves does have some personality though, but the movie doesn't use its potential. As said, there's no story of any substance here. It seems to elaborate too much on cool dialog and ends up looking like a colorful MTV ad. It definitely has that feeling. Still though, I guess some people might enjoy it, but I'd say there's far better movies like this around.

• Not great

  thegovernator2008-01-23

  Within the first 2 minutes I have sustained a headache from the sheer crapness of it. Now I am writing this. It is just one of those really bad Australian movies which compels you to change the channel immediately, but usually you have to end up watching as nothing else is on. In the same context as one of those stupid American TV dramas (that I cant believe anyone could be bothered watching) although different. It isn't very good and that's a shame. Plus Kylie is barely in it and seems to have regressed back to her bad acting days in Neighbours. That is all. Avoid.

• Raw exposee of Sydney's clubbing underbelly

  biggart2003-05-08

  I really enjoyed this film. Think of a cross between Go, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Two Hands. The action didn't let up and the characters were all given life by a strong cast of young and old hands. I enjoyed the chaos and the messiness, and I think the low-budget feel of the film adds to rather than detracts from its appeal. For those of you who get the film out on the basis of Kylie being on the cover, you'll be disappointed. Although she plays a strong character, screen-time is shared pretty evenly throughout the cast. She's back to her grass roots here. Standout performers for me were Simon Lyndon, Paula Arundell, Nathan Page and Matt Wilkinson but the whole cast's effort was the highlight of this film.