Well, blow me down... I loathe Australian movies... so I was taking my chances here... and for once, the reviews on IMDb were spot on... this fine little Aussie film is a masterpiece.I don't know if it would work as well for people who aren't Australian because it is the master of some subtle nuance, however, just a brilliant little film, with some very surprisingly hilarious moments... I'm still amazed as I write. This is a movie I could watch again and still thoroughly appreciate.Watch the beginning carefully... it links beautifully with the ending, but all the stuff in between, wonderful.

One of my favourites of 2007It is simply a really well put together film about boat people trying to sneak into, and then around, the Northern territories.Every situation is handled with suitable aplomb: there is plenty of genuine laughs as well as great character development as the main protagonists fall out with each other and gradually form real bonds. There is a lovely touch throughout of subtitling the speaker rather than the screen and this works superbly.For a film with such a small plot it delivers a real punch: it is far more human, and enjoyable than many bigger costume dramas,, or big budget efforts. It really is worth the view, and I can't wait to see the next effort by Michael James Roland because this one is seriously good: funny, poignant, exciting, and above all, a film about finding.Warmly recommended

The scenario is simple. A disparate group of refugees are dumped on the inhospitable West Australian coast by unscrupulous people smugglers. It may sound like the perfect recipe for a tale of woe and misery, but instead Lucky Miles is a comedy, and easily the most enjoyable Australian film I've seen for quite a few years. And the audience at the Sydney Film Festival certainly found plenty to laugh at. Writer Helen Barnes and writer/director Michael James Rowland, aided by a wonderful ensemble cast, have created a marvelous set of characters. They could have given us mere symbols of suffering and injustice, or ethnic stereotypes, but instead each character is gloriously human. The Iraqi and Cambodian refugees, the Indonesian people smugglers, and the Australian reservists tasked with rounding them up, all have laughable foibles. And it is the presentation of this common humanity that makes this film not only very funny, but also a powerful exploration of one of the most pressing issues of our time.

Few films today dare to treat our border control issues with situational humor. Even fewer rely on a largely unknown cast, to carry a story that has very little to do with saving the western world or pointing any fingers. But almost none consider that coming to the western world could be worse than 'where ever it is they came from' for an asylum seeker. Lucky Miles is such a film. It takes the politics out of culture clashes and anchors conflict in the need for survival. It challenges stereotypes both international and indigenous without tippy-toeing or apologizing. Films like this one are long, long over due, and call the need for a shift in our attitudes to generating new Australian filmmakers. Lucky Miles is a leap forward in old fashioned cinema, and a beacon for commercial free stories.