'Last Cab to Darwin' is a contemporary Australian film based on a true story, released in 2015. The story is set in the Northern Territory, and it is ultimately about an aging, terminally-ill, small-town man's journey where he ultimately realises that, after the journey he has taken, undergoing euthanasia is not worth it as he does have someone to care about. It shows Rex in physical pain, living in terrible conditions where he actually feels humiliated by the fact that he needs an indigenous Australian to essentially care for him. I personally think that the main reason why Rex wanted to undergo the procedure is actually because he felt like he was a burden upon Polly. And that by leaving without her consent, he'd be giving her relief from having to care for a man who can't even clean his own mess, but in the end he realises that Polly would do absolutely anything for him – and that he was the one who deserved his final time.This is how the filmmakers address the universal issue that we all face every day – possibility opposing practicality. Where when you're actually living the moment, you might go back upon your original idea. I think the movie does an amazing job of describing this, and I feel that is also the direction of the argument of Euthanasia itself, everything is uncertain when one has to make a decision that serious. I myself am terrified of the thought of death, in-fact I can't even begin to comprehend it, but although I can never see myself going through euthanasia, I can imagine that in certain circumstances some people would, which is how where I think the filmmakers stand on the topic – and they definitely do make the subjective benefits known. So I feel like there will never be a final decision made on the debate, and that's exactly what I think the ultimate message of this movie is – because in the end, even Dr Farmer had given-up. I would say this film was probably one of the most beautiful movies I have seen in the respect of the power and beauty of the relationship between Polly and Rex. The wonderful idea of breaking the 'taboo' upon being associated with an indigenous Australian in the Northern Territory, let-alone leading a relationship. The reason why this hits-home for me is because in the Northern Territory there is a very obvious bias against the indigenous Australians. I recall seeing many places where Aborigines were restricted without identification, even at the campsite parallel to the iconic bar with photos plastered upon the walls had regulations like this. So to see two people breaking these barriers was a very confronting, but beautiful image. Beautiful imagery is something this great movie is full-of, whether it be depicting the often buried idea of alcoholism among Aborigines, the impact that people can have on one-another, or even just the landscape of Australia itself. Which is something I would like to finish upon, the setting of this movie proved almost nostalgic for me in a sense, I feel the filmmakers truly captured how I see Australia as a whole. In the morning at Rex's house I felt like I could even smell the scent of the morning wet grass under the unforgiving Australian sun, and re-live the sense of wonder that I felt when entering Alice Springs between the monolithic rock formations. This movie was a perfect depiction of how I truly see Australia, and for that I think I will always remember it.

Like some other reviewers, I was disappointed by "Last Cab To Darwin". I saw the trailer on some other DVD or Blu-Ray and I was looking forward to seeing this movie. Michael Caton is a very good actor who will never play a better part than he did as Darryl Kerrigan in "The Castle", one of my all-time favourite movies.I share the views of some other reviewers. There was a missed opportunity in Last Cab in that very little of the strange beauty of the Australian outback made it into the final cut. The outback is beautiful and dangerous in about equal measure and I would have liked to see much more of it, particularly since this movie runs just over two hours. What we have instead are endless scenes involving Rex and Tilly, the latter who increasingly got under my skin, not because he was an Aboriginal but rather because he was just so bloody annoying. Were it me driving 3,000km to Darwin, I would have had Tilly out of the cab at the first stop after leaving the place where he fixed Rex's windscreen.Jackie Weaver has never been a good actress and my impression was not changed by this movie. The only stand-out acting wise was Michael Caton as Rex. He played the part with exactly the right amount of sympathy, poignance and empathy with someone dying from cancer.And this leads me to the matter of euthanasia. I believe that in Australia, the Northern Territory, the ACT and I think also Tasmania have passed laws allowing euthanasia in some appropriately limited circumstances. These laws have been over-ridden by Federal Government legislation, this of course resulting in a great deal of unnecessary suffering for patients and their families. I would have liked to see a movie in which the expected difficulties for Rex didn't happen and he was then allowed to die a dignified death rather than the drawn out and painful death that we can assume followed the end of the movie. However, as with so much else these days, Australia is no longer a leader in the world in any capacity. We are always followers with little vision for the future. Australia's resistance to both euthanasia and gay marriage are two good examples of what I'm saying here. They are both absolutely inevitable so why don't Australian Governments just recognize that and enact appropriate legislation that could only make many people much happier and make Australia again the forward-looking country that it was in the 40s, 50s and 60s.My major problem with "Last Cab To Darwin was just the length of the movie. It's way too long at over two hours and I was bored to death by the end, just hoping that it would finish. This seems to be commonplace these days when most movies are no longer the "correct" length of about 90 to 100 minutes. Some movies can sustain interest for two or even three hours but most just don't make it.By all means see "Last Cab To Darwin". It's not a bad movie. It just could have been so much better.

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.

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.