development of Casino Royale. O'Loughlin reportedly screen tested for the role following the withdrawal of Pierce Brosnan in 2003, but the role eventually went to Daniel Craig. Release Box Office Marking Reeves’ directorial debut, Oyster Farmer ran for approximately six months in Australia, grossing $2,383,051 by the second half of 2005. The film opened the Commonwealth Film Festival in Manchester in 2007, with Reeves presenting the film at the festival’s opening on 29 April 2007. Critical Reception Oyster Farmer received generally mixed reviews from critics. The online reviews aggregate Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a rating of 52% based on 16 reviews, with an average rating of 5.7 out of 10. Metacritic gave the film a 51 out of 100 based on 8 reviews, consisting of both ‘mixed and average reviews’. IMDb gave Oyster Farmer a weighted average of 6.5 out of 10, based on 1,208 reviews. Critics of Oyster Farmer generally focused on the accuracy of the characterisations and the substantiality of the script, generally forming positive, mixed, and negative accounts. Laura Kern of the New York Times claimed ‘this darkly humorous, sometimes even raunchy film mostly eludes a typical cutesy, feel-good formula’. Sean Axmaker of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer made a similar assessment, stating ‘at times it gets lost in the backwaters, but the eccentric characters and offbeat humour make it an entertaining detour’. The Sydney Morning Herald’s Doug Anderson chose to forefront the effectiveness of the chosen landscape, noting the landscape deserves co-star billing thanks to Alun Bollinger's cinematography.’. A positive outlook was expressed by Megan Spencer of SBS, who said ‘The characters are well drawn and authentic, and Reeves clearly had a ball fashioning the language of this film and the dialogue’. Sharon Hurst of Cinephilia wrote that ‘Although there is nothing remarkable to the plot, The Oyster Farmer looks feels fresh and original’. Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter considered the film to be substantially lacking, commenting that it ‘fails to overcome its hokey script and cliched characterizations’. V.A Musetto of the New York Post took a similar approach, stating ‘While her cast is talented, Reeves doesn’t concentrate long enough on any plotline or character to build viewer interest’. Accolades Oyster Farmer was nominated for two AACTA awards (for Best Picture and Best Cinematography), two FCCA awards (for Best Cinematography and Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Kerry Armstrong)) and two IF awards (for Best Cinematography