In the leadup to the 1995
AFI Awards,
The Age’s Jim Schembri called it "an exceptionally funny film about an Aboriginal man's obsession with a Kombi van." After its 1997 release, he gave it 3 stars saying "By skillfully fusing several race-related elements into a light comedy without making light of them,
Harry Dare shows that being entertaining does not necessarily mean being vacuous."Robert Drewe of
The Sydney Morning Herald says it is "pretty hard to classify. At times it seems like a tough urban drama, at others more a bitter-sweet comedy."
David Stratton commenting on
The Movie Show gave it 3 stars and says the film "doesn't in the end make the most of some intriguing ideas, but nevertheless it's engaging entertainment." Adrian Martin from
The Age gave it 2 stars finishing "Neither a full-blooded social satire nor a cute Aussie version of
Ghost Dad (1990),
The Life of Harry Dare dwells in that frustrating middle-ground where so many Australian films go to die." ==Awards==