'The Time of Our Lives invites you into the sometimes crushing embrace of the Tivolli family as they juggle, fight, love and play their way through the challenges of contemporary family life. Love, work and family are what drive most of us and the Tivoli family is no different. They believe if you treat family like friends, and friends like family, life will always be good but like any happy family, life sometimes gets in the way.'
The Time Of Our Lives has everything that a drama series should have; great cast, addictive storyline, perfect on-screen chemistry and very enjoyable to watch. The ABC truely have had a hit on their hands with this little gem, which is why I guess they've renewed the show for a second series...awesome!
The main thing that reeled me into checking out this series was the fantastic cast (mainly Shane Jacobson, my new favourite actor after his appearance on Adam Hills Tonight). There is William McInnes (My Brother Jack, Look Both Ways), Shane Jacobson (Jack Irish, Beaconsfield), Justine Clarke (Woodley, Love My Way), Stephen Curry (Redfern Now, Cliffy), AFI Award winner Claudia Karvan (My Brother Jack, Love My Way) and Michelle Vergara Moore (Side Effects).
The Tivollis are right in the thickof it - career, mortgages, little kids, ageing parents. Elder brother Matt (McInnes) is a successful sports agent whose obsessive wide Caroline (Karvan) has taken on parenting with the same force with which she took on her once high powered legal career. Her over-indulgent mother, combined with Matt's absent fathering, have created a little boy who is sometimes impossible to like.
Younger brother Luce (Jacobson) and his partner Bernadette (Clarke) run a household that is both chaotic and relaxed. At time money worries and the stress of parenting three girls knocks them over, but they're blessed with the ability to get right back up and start all over again.
Chai Li (Moore) is Matt and Luce's younger sister and was adopted from Vietnam as a baby. Now a successful 30-something she feels she has it all until a humiliating event causes her to question her choices and her future.
Along with close family friend Herb (Curry), mother Rosa (Sue Jones) and father Ray (Tony Barry), The Time Of Our Lives follows this extended Australian family as they face their own big questions: Should I stay when the love is gone? Does everyone have to have a child? What truely makes me happy? And the biggest question of all - is love enough?
Featuring some excellent interviews with the cast and creators of the series, this DVD is a great way to relive some of those favourite moments from the original series broadcast or discover and fall in love with the series for the first time. Lovers of Australian drama and comedy alike will definitely enjoy this series and it's easy to see why!
★★★☆☆
The Time Of Our Lives can be purchased on DVD NOW!