When describing a film, words like “schmaltz” or “cliché” are typically reserved for derision, used to chastise a film for lazily indulging in stale familiarities instead of achieving something more natural or truthful. But sometimes schmaltzy clichés aren’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s paradoxical in some ways that a film’s use of clichés can make it feel artificial when clichés exist precisely because of their natural familiarity (in reality, it’s more about how they’re employed—rather than if they’re used at all). Last Cab to Darwin, Jeremy Sims’ latest feature, has all the markings of “been there, done that.” It’s a tale about a curmudgeonly old man who, through trying out new experiences, learns to appreciate his life and the people willing to have him in theirs. And for all the borderline cringeworthy moments of manufactured sentimentality peppered throughout Last Cab to Darwin, there are also plenty of warm, funny and entertaining examples of earning the right to indulge in the maudlin.

In the town of Broken Hill, cab driver Rex (Michael Caton) lives out a meager existence, his only true companion being his dog named Dog (“Rex was taken,” he says dryly when someone asks him about the name). He has a social life, but it’s kept at arm’s length, giving him the ability to retreat into solitude if he feels like it. He goes for drinks at the local bar with his friends from time to time and hides the occasionally romantic relationship he has with Aboriginal neighbour Polly (Ningali Lawford-Wolf). The opening goes a long way in establishing their diverting and charming chemistry: Rex comes outside in the morning to find Polly cursing him out at the top of her lungs for dumping his garbage in her bin, then brings over some tea for them to drink together while she cuddles up to Rex on his porch. Rex obviously has the potential for a great life, except he refuses to allow himself to have it.

Then the bad news hits: a trip to the doctor’s about Rex’s trouble keeping food down turns into a diagnosis of an aggressive form of stomach cancer, giving Rex 3 months to live. He stubbornly shuts down the possibility for treating his disease, insisting that he’ll continue driving his taxi until he can’t anymore. Then a form of hope arrives for the cynically-minded Rex: he learns that the Northern Territories of Australia recently legalized euthanasia, he sees a chance to die on his own terms. After contacting a doctor (Jacki Weaver) he sees in the newspaper to set up an appointment to die, she tells him that he would have to travel up north to Darwin in order to go through with the procedure. Rex decides to get in his cab and drive the entire 3,000 kilometre trip on his own, abandoning everyone in Broken Hill and leaving Polly his house, belongings, and Dog.

It doesn’t come as a surprise that, once Rex hits the road, Last Cab to Darwin transforms itself into a generic road movie. He drives along to various montages set to upbeat music, encounters ghost towns, meets eccentric locals, and hits different obstacles along the way (the usual hallmarks of a cross-country car ride). These sequences flow nicely within the film’s pacing, mainly thanks to the terrific cinematography by Steve Arnold (although, by this point, I’m thinking it’s difficult for anyone to film the Outback and make it not look spectacular) and Caton’s performance, who barely hides Rex’s vulnerability underneath his hard exterior. Caton transforms his character from an archetype to someone much more relatable and human as the film continues on and Rex begins opening up to those around him.

The same goes for Lawford-Wolf, who turns out to be the heart of the film as Polly. She’s a tough woman from the first moment we see her screaming at the top of her lungs, though Lawford-Wolf combats the harshness with a great amount of sensitivity once she lets down her guard. The screenplay, written by Sims and Reg Cribb (adapted from Cribb’s successful stage play), also goes out of its way to establish the still-rampant racism surrounding Polly, showing her hard-edged persona as something she does more out of survival than anything. The few moments when Rex calls Polly during his trip are by far the most heartbreaking and emotional moments, largely because of Lawford-Wolf’s fantastic performance. It’s the film’s saving grace from falling into a sappy mess.

But just as Last Cab to Darwin starts becoming one of the better feel-good tearjerkers in recent years, bad choices and preposterous developments come and sour the good vibes. As Rex makes his way up north to Darwin, he winds up taking on two passengers. The first is Tilly (Mark Coles Smith), a young Aboriginal man whose penchant for drinking and partying ruins his chances of becoming a professional footballer. Smith has plenty of charisma to make Tilly a likable guy despite his screwups (including neglecting his wife and kids), but he’s written as a broad caricature, the kind of wise slacker who likes to begin sentences with phrases like “Don’t you worry about me”, in the tone of a person who actually has it all figured out. And it’s not even a question about whether Tilly can actually play football. He claims he’s great—and he winds up being just that—but it takes Rex to eventually put him on the right path and shed his alcoholism before he lives up to his full potential. It’s a subplot that winds up feeling disappointingly slight, considering the amount of time spent with Tilly throughout.

Even more hilariously preposterous is a sequence where Rex and Tilly meet the bartender Julie (Emma Hamilton), a British girl who vaguely answers any questions about how she wound up in Australia. Later that night at the bar, Rex falls severely ill. While Julie tries to save him, her boss tells her to call an ambulance and get back to work. It’s at this moment that Julie reveals she’s actually a former nurse, an oh-so-convenient coincidence that winds up making her tag along for the ride as Rex’s caretaker. Other moments like this happen throughout: when Rex calls a radio show to talk about his illness earlier on in Broken Hill, the camera cuts to all of Rex’s friends across town who all happen to be listening in at the same time. These scenes serve as little reminders that, no matter pleasant the film may be, there’s a limit to the amount of BS one can pile on an audience.

The last act, where Rex arrives and Weaver’s character takes on a more prominent role, is a bit of a fumble, especially when the story turns to highlighting how Rex has changed those around him for the better. But a touching scene between Rex and Polly and a surprisingly low-key ending things on a note that’s more bittersweet than melancholy help turn things around a bit. There’s no denying that audiences will enjoy Sims’ film, laughing and crying at the exact moments it wants them to (there were plenty of tears and sniffling at my screening), but Sims having his heart in the right place can’t entirely mask the mawkish and cheesy nature of the story. Last Cab to Darwin, therefore, operates as a guide on how to do schmaltz right and wrong. It’s a ratio that tips over a little more on the wrong side, but the terrific performances and touching relationship at the centre of it all make this film a lot easier to swallow.

Magic in the Moonlight takes Woody Allen back to France and back in time again, though there will be no Midnight in Paris-esque time traveling involved (we think). Set in the 1920s, Colin Firth stars as Stanley, a magician and “the greatest debunker of fake spiritualists,” sent to the French Riviera to investigate Emma Stone‘s Sophie. Sophie, meanwhile, has near everyone convinced she’s a medium with the help of her cleverness and charming looks (the role is played by Emma Stone, after all).

Moonlight also teams Allen up with several actors whom he hasn’t worked with before, including Stone and Firth, Marcia Gay Harden, Hamish Linklater, and recent 2-time Oscar nominee Jacki Weaver. The film is set for a US release on July 25th, and if the long-standing Allen trend of hit-miss-hit-miss-hit stays in tact, this may be a skippable effort from Woody (though the trailer is no indication of that). Check out a preview below:

Watch trailer for Magic in the Moonlight

David O. Russell continues his transformation into a mainstream prestige director with Silver Linings Playbook, an enjoyable crowd-pleaser that puts 2012’s other romantic comedies to shame. Russell’s transition from fare like Three Kings and I Heart Huckabees is not necessarily a bad thing either. Just as The Fighter breathed new life into a standard sports drama, Silver Linings Playbook tweaks its genre’s formula enough to make the usual trappings feel fresh again.

The movie opens with Pat Solitano (Bradley Cooper) being released from a psychiatric ward. Eight months earlier he caught his wife sleeping with a co-worker and nearly beat the man to death, a manic episode that got him diagnosed as being bipolar. Now living with his parents (Jacki Weaver and Robert De Niro), Pat spends his time trying to find a way to win back his wife despite her putting out a restraining order against him. As Pat’s attempts to control his condition increasingly fail, he’s introduced to Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), a young widow. Everyone around Pat and Tiffany seems to be forcing the two of them together, hoping that they can bond over their collective mental troubles, and despite a rocky start they soon form a friendship.

Russell, who also wrote the screenplay (an adaptaion of Matthew Quick’s novel), spends the first act showing Pat’s attempt to transition back into a normal life. Things quickly turn sour as Pat refuses to take medication and, as he realizes how dire the situation with his wife is, the optimistic philosophy of finding life’s silver linings is constantly challenged. Pat’s violent outbursts, coupled with his sincere optimism quickly make him a character worth rooting for. Once Tiffany is finally brought into the picture, with the two of them hilariously swapping medication stories at a dinner party, her presence feels like a relief.

It’s these sorts of alterations to the formulaic romantic comedy that makes Silver Linings Playbook stand out. Pat and Tiffany’s coupling feels necessary for the both of them to overcome their individual problems, and Cooper and Lawrence’s sympathetic performances along with their excellent chemistry easily sell this idea. The supporting cast only continues to show how Russell’s greatest strength as a writer and director is the way he infuses a sense of naturalism into the characters. Everyone in the film, from De Niro as Cooper’s superstitious sports-obsessed father to Chris Tucker as a psych ward patient who constantly tries to escape, feel like well-rounded and likable characters. By making everybody so enjoyable to watch, the more clichéd elements of the plot aren’t as noticeable and easy to forgive.

There are plenty of other unique touches throughout Silver Linings Playbook. An expected twist late in the second act is surprisingly subverted in one of the film’s more inspired choices. Russell also likes to throw in a few neat ideas, my favourite being a rushed tracking shot on anyone who encounters Pat that looks more appropriate for a horror movie. Fans of Russell’s earlier films might lament his new career path as him selling out, but doing so doesn’t give him enough credit. His work is still subversive, but now it’s getting him better results.