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List Price: $6.99 | | Label: Platinum Disc
Salesrank: 129245
Released: September 1, 1999 |
| Our Price: $5.74 |
| Used Price: $0.97 |
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
All actors have to try a mental-impairment role at some point in their careers (don't they?), and Mel Gibson took his best shot with this sweet film about a young retarded man and his gentle relationship with an older woman (Piper Laurie) who teaches him to read and to adjust to the real world. Tim's parents come to trust the woman's honorable intentions, but the movie still gives Mel's female fans a lot to swoon over; it's a platonic romance with plenty of temptation that's never acted upon. Add to that the fact that Gibson's really quite good in the title role--after Mad Max, this was Mel's first widely seen opportunity to prove himself in a dramatic role before his higher-profile roles in The Road Warrior and Gallipoli. Tim is a bit too schmaltzy and sentimental, but this 1979 release has gained a loyal audience over the years, and the film has a lot more than just a young Mel Gibson to recommend it. --Jeff Shannon
Tim Reviews:
miami 
2004-01-23 - Mel Gibson in one of his earliest movies (when he was about 25) plays a rather sweet (hey let's face it: hunky) and slightly retarded young gardener who likes his middle aged female employer played by Piper Laurie who really, really likes him, but in a rather restrained lustfulness: barging into his room at night all she does is gaze at him sleeping before stealing away.
His sister is appalled at this gender bending May -December romance (she wants to marry into a prominent local family and fears it might jeopardize her upcoming nuptials).
His employer (the middle aged woman) is so appalled she seeks pastoral counseling : young men older women romances were taboo 25 years ago! And she is racked with guilt. Surprisingly, her pastor is in favor so long as she marries Mel (lustfulness in marriage is ok!).
Also, Mel's parents are in favor: they are old and worried about who will care for their mentally retarded son after they die, so having him quietly married off would be best for their son.
There is a very charming scene of Mel and Laurie cavorting on the beach, tumbling down the dunes, she wearing a full body-covering caftan and big floppy hat, and he in the cutest of cut-off swim trunks looking as cute as a young and still inexperienced actor can manage.
It's embarrassing to watch at times , but my mother, aged 80+, really liked it.
So, more power to female audience oriented soft-core porn!
Could you feel more awkward? 
2003-01-14 - I enjoy watching Mel Gibson, even enough to watch this movie. I can appreciate how far he has come in his career. I just felt a little weird watching him as a "slow" boy working for, and eventually getting "involved" with an older woman. But, what can you say... it's Mel Gibson and hey, all actors started somewhere! : )
Beautiful, Poignant 
2002-10-22 - Having read the book, I can see why Gibson was chosen for the role. Tim is described as someone with features that would have inspired Praxiteles.-Classic and beautiful in Greek purportions. Despite the lack of blond hair that Colleen McCoullough ascribed her mentally diminished hero, Gibson gives him the vulnerabilty and nobility that McCoullogh describes. Piper Laurie is marvelous as Tim's employer, caretaker, and eventual love interest. The Australian landscape was gorgeous(it reminds me of Hawaii, where I lived as a child). But I was glad this film spares us the full descriptions of how Tim was treated by his co-workers. This is a very sensitive, well-thought piece, and I guess I can overlook many inconsistancies with the book and just enjoy the beauty of it.
Tim
2002-09-15 - Tim is one of Mel Gibsons first works and his very best acting
is shown in this movie.
TIM IS TOPS...
2002-03-10 - This is a gem of a film, starring the underrated Piper Laurie in the role of a well to do, but lonely, business woman, Mary Horton, who befriends a very nice, good looking day laborer, Tim Melville, earnestly played by a very young Mel Gibson. Tim happens to be a little simple. His family describes him as being "a few short of a full quid".
While he does work around her house, she gets to know him, as well as his working class family. As time goes on, a deep fondness that ripens into love develops between the two. He brings her out of her shell, and she teaches him to read and explains concepts that will enable him to function better in the world around him. Based upon Colleen McCollough's book of the same name, this is a very well acted film, with fine performances by the supporting cast, as well as the leads.
The quality of the DVD is bargain basement with no additional features. That is to be expected, as the price of this DVD is likewise bargain basement. One gets what one pays for. Moreover, the DVD picture is best described as grainy. This is unfortunate for such an excellent film. A better transfer from print to DVD should have been executed, as this film certainly merits it, as does the viewer.
