Insidious
Given the presence of director James Wan, I am claiming this review of Insidious (2010) as part of my focus on Australian film. Wan and creative partner Leigh Whannell famously had to head abroad in order to get the necessary financing for their film Saw (2004). It has worked well for them too, with both of them carving out nice little careers in America.
I have been enjoying horror films more over the last year or two, after realising that whilst atmospheric and at their best highly tense to watch, they were not going to leave me all that scared, unable to sleep for days like I feared. Whilst it didn’t keep me up for days, Insidious is one of the scarier horror flicks I have seen. The first half is a near perfect Haunted House jaunt that is seriously tense and creepy. It sees a married couple, played by Rose Byrne and Patrick Wilson, have their son fall into a coma. Soon after, numerous creepy happenings start taking place. One of the best aspects of this section of the film was that it felt like a pretty realistic presentation of how a couple would react to such an intense situation, as fractures begin to emerge in their relationship. The second half, whilst perhaps not purely as successful as the first, successfully takes the story into some interesting and delightfully creepy places. It also leads to a conclusion of the film that is satisfying, and I for one loved the setup for the sequel at the end.
Watching this film got me thinking how little respect or even attention Wan gets here in Australia. His films get decent releases, but there is not the same focus on him as ‘one of our own’ and how well he is doing in comparison to other actors and directors. Perhaps most of that is due to the fact that he is working in the horror genre which does not get the respect it deserves. Hopefully this will change eventually, because on the evidence of Insidious, Wan is one of our very best directors. The film looks incredible under Wan’s stewardship. Even in the scenes of relative normalcy, Wan is very good at using the camera to create tension in a really disconcerting way. He achieves this generally in a very simplistic, old school manner, by really thinking of the best place to place the camera in each scene. A level of thought that is seemingly not bothered with in so many films. I am not for a second suggesting Wan is the next Hitchcock (he isn’t), but the way he thought out his scenes and took the care to think about the spot that placing his camera would bring the most to each scene, reminded me a lot of the great Brit’s work.
The Aussie flavour to the film leaks over to the cast as well. Rose Byrne, as the female lead, gives the best performance in the film. She is able to give a real sense of her character and the troubles that have plagued her life. Whannell partners up with Angus Sampson to fill a comedic relief slot. I liked the performances of those too, but was not so fond of the characters. Tonally the comedic stylings were just a little too light and not integrated with everything else that was going on. All the performances in Insidious were at the very least decent. Patrick Wilson, whilst in the shadow of his onscreen wife Byrne, is quite good. Lin Shaye as the employer of Whannell and Sampson, does really well to balance her role as part old kook who cannot be trusted, and the only hope for those involved. I also really liked the use of sound in Insidious. One of the major gripes I have with sound in many contemporary horror films is the fact that it is used cheaply to trick people into scares. In Insidious the sound is used to build atmosphere, but more importantly to boost the effect of scares that are already happening on screen.
I’m shamefully behind on catching up with Wan’s films (this is the first I have seen). But Insidious impressed the hell out of me, so I will be getting on to the others. A clever update on the classic haunted house flick that is genuinely scary, I can definitely recommend this film to anyone with the slightest interest in the genre. Or just if you want to see the work of one of the better young directors working today.
Verdict: Pint of Kilkenny
Like what you read? Then please like Not Now I’m Drinking a Beer and Watching a Movie on facebook here and follow me on twitter @beer_movie.
Save Your Legs
I have to admit that when I first saw the trailer for the Aussie comedy Save Your Legs (2012) my expectations were pretty low. The tale of an amateur cricket team on tour in India had cliché and cringefest written all over it.
The end result is a fair bit better than my pre-judged opinion. Sure there is a bunch of cliché and the odd cringe. But the whole thing is charming enough, thanks mainly to the cast, that I was able to forgive those sins, chill out and just enjoy this pretty mild comedy. The film follows the Abbotsford Anglers, a hack D grade cricket side, who talk themselves into a fully sponsored tour of India. It focuses on the entire team, but especially the trials of three of the players. Teddy played by Stephen Curry is a cricket obsessive. One of those weekend battlers in all sports who take the game far too seriously and absolutely live for the game. Alongside him are his best mates, Rick played by Brendan Cowell (also on screenwriting duties here) and Stavros played by Damon Gameau, both of whom are not quite so cricket obsessed and have other things on their mind. Buying peach suits, preparing for impending nuptials and getting absolutely stoned out of their mind chief amongst them.
You can see where the conflict will come from in the film as this band of misfits bungle their way around the cricket fields of India. Teddy takes things far too seriously, whilst Rick and Stavros generally dick around and have a great time whilst taking things nowhere near seriously enough. Along the way, the film does dip into the clichés that I feared it would, with ‘Delhi-belly’ jokes and numerous weed based shenanigans. But the whole thing overall is just so fine and easy to watch that I didn’t particularly mind. The film is very much helped by the fact that it was shot in India. Like The Waiting City (2009), another Australian film shot in India, this choice is an easy way to give the film a real jolt of atmosphere and sense of place. Many of the cast will be familiar to Aussie viewers, not so much people from outside Australia. Stephen Curry, still most famous for his role in the iconic Aussie comedy The Castle (1997) seems a good dude and comes across as very genuine onscreen. Brendan Cowell continues to craft out a niche as the laconic ‘best mate’, something he does very well and brings the laughs. The rest of the cast is strong as well, Damon Gameau is good as Cowell’s partner in crime, while David Lyons who was so good in Cactus (2008) is unfortunately given far too little screen time.
Save Your Legs will most likely not top your year end list, even if you restricted yourself to just Aussie or comedy films. But it is a decent slice of fun. The cast are really excellent and the locations are pretty spectacular as well. Just so nice and easy to watch.
Verdict: Stubby of Reschs
100 Bloody Acres
Recently released in Aussie cinemas, and elsewhere around the world on VOD platforms is the helluva fun comedy-horror flick 100 Bloody Acres (2012). Hopefully this film can gain a decent audience around the parts, because it really deserves it. Plus it would be great to see those behind the film, such as the brotherly directorial team of Colin and Cameron Cairnes, get more chances to show off their stuff.
Set in rural Australia, the film follows the Morgan brothers, small business owners with a massive fertiliser contract to fill. Only trouble is that the phenomenal batch of fertilizer they previously supplied happened to contain a secret ingredient… human bodies. An ingredient in short supply. At the beginning of the film, the younger of the siblings Reg finds a body in the wreckage of a car accident. So he snaffles it and heads back to the farm. On his way there, he stumbles across three festival goers, hitchhiking their way to the gig. Reg, eager to impress his big brother, picks them up with a view to turning them into fertiliser. Only, the Morgans aren’t murderers. At least not yet. All the other bodies they included in their product were just found in car crashes.
Back at the Morgan Brothers farm is where the ‘fun’ really starts. It is also where the older brother Lindsay, played by Angus Sampson, makes his first appearance. Sampson will be known to overseas readers from his work in James Wan’s Insidious (2011) and to Aussie readers from a bunch of (predominately comedic) things. Including a bunch of star turns in the Aussie show Thank God You’re Here such as this one:
Whilst the entire cast is good, Sampson is definitely the star here. He plays somewhat against type, being really quite menacing and overbearing and also strikes up a really good chemistry with Damon Herriman who plays his onscreen younger brother. Speaking of Herriman, he provides a well-meaning, if a little dopey foil to Sampson’s unhinged menace. The plot of the film is a clever inversion of the paranoia around hitchhikers in the Aussie outback. All three of the actors who play the hitchhikers are really good, especially so is Anna McGahan as Sophie. She does really well in a role that had it been poorly brought to life could have cruelled the film and made some of the bolder moments in the film feel utterly absurd. Also, this film features by far the best John Jarrett cameo of the past 12 months. Take that Tarantino.
Whilst the mixing of comedy and horror has been done really well by quite a number of films, plenty more have failed miserably in trying to pull it off. Some forget to put any menace or suspense into the horror elements. Whilst others are just miserably unfunny and embarrassing in their attempts to do so. 100 Bloody Acres hits the spot. After a gentle, wry start, the gore picks up quite a lot and whilst the ending is perhaps never in doubt, there is still a decent amount of suspense around exactly how things are going to go down. As for the comedy, it is a definite success, with the laughs ranging from the subtle to the hilarious character of Reg and his interactions with Sophie and ‘Bex’. The other thing aside from humour that the script does really well is that it actually makes you care about the characters. So often in horror/slasher type films the attitude seems to be, we are going to kill them anyway, so why bother making these people interesting? 100 Bloody Acres, while not dwelling over minutely detailed back stories, gives enough interesting tidbits for each character and especially the relationships between them to make you invested in what happens to them. Whether you are cheering for them to end up ground to a bloody fertiliser pulp, or hoping they can avoid that fate altogether. The film also looks really sharp, the cinematography makes the rural settings pop and also picks up every last little bit of grime and gore.
It is really good to see an Aussie comedy-horror film such as 100 Bloody Acres getting a relatively wide release. Even without the comedic elements, this film would be a serviceable little horror flick. But the fact that the humour is well executed and the performances all round hit the spot, make this right up there with my favourite Aussie flicks of the year so far. Go check it out.
Verdict: Pint of Kilkenny
Like what you read? Then please like Not Now I’m Drinking a Beer and Watching a Movie on facebook here and follow me on twitter @beer_movie.
Sanctum
One of the first films that James Cameron turned his attention to after Avatar (2009), was the Aussie genre film Sanctum (2011) which Cameron produced. That fact, as well as the fact it was (I believe) the first Australian film to utilise 3D, got the film a relatively large amount of hype, at least here.
Whilst the film was relatively panned by critics and did not go so well at the box office, I think it deserves a bit of a reappraisal. Definitely imperfect, Sanctum is an atmospheric and refreshingly dark thriller. You know what is good for creating atmosphere? Frickin caves. You know what the only thing scarier than caves is? Frickin cave diving. Sanctum makes the best of these indisputable facts as it traps an eclectic bunch of divers deep within a cave system in Papua New Guinea. With their path to the surface blocked, their only option is to journey through the previously unexplored cave system to find the ocean. The film is beautifully shot. Some of the establishing shots of the PNG countryside are jaw-dropping and the budget clearly extended to some really excellent aerial photography. Without overdoing things, the photography also ramps up the suffocating claustrophobia that cave diving brings. The kind of claustrophobia that can, and does, seriously affect one’s mental state. The narrative is a little silly. It reminded me of that terrible film Vertical Limit (2000) where a whole bunch of people die in a mountain rescue, but you still feel happy because the right one lives. But as an exercise in tension, it works pretty well, managing to overcome dafter moments such as a base jump into the cave. This was my second viewing of the film and I did notice this time that it is quite a difficult watch. There is a brutal edge to many of the proceedings and it is rather harrowing to sit through things right til the end. Sitting through it will reward though, because there is heaps to like about the film.
The performances in Sanctum are a bit of a mixed bag. Richard Roxburgh is the most effective as the grizzled veteran diver Frank McGuire who has never been able to build much of a relationship with his son, preferring instead to focus on his career as a cave diver. As his son Josh, Rhys Wakefield is serviceable and makes you believe in the angsty relationship that he shares with his old man. I thought Ioan Gruffudd was a better actor than this though. He is utterly abysmal in this film. Much of this is due to the accent he attempts to put on. I think it is meant to be American, but it is truly hideous and really distracting. It definitely takes a certain breed of person to invest your life in caving and especially cave diving. Not exactly my cup of tea. But the film brings to life this misfit gang and taps into some of the psychology behind why they choose to spend their time deep underground in scuba gear, living on the precipice of death. You can definitely get a sense of the attraction of being able to see something that no human being has ever been privileged enough to see before.
Sanctum looks incredible – both above and below ground this is a really well shot film. As a coherent well-acted narrative the returns are a little variable, but as far as tense, claustrophobic thrillers go, you can do a whole lot worse.
Verdict: Stubby of Reschs
Like what you read? Then please like Not Now I’m Drinking a Beer and Watching a Movie on facebook here and follow me on twitter @beer_movie.
Hail
“My soul’s pretty damaged at the moment”
I never really start reviews with a quote and I am not going to make it a regular thing. However looking back over my notes for Hail (2011), the above line of dialogue from the film seems an apt way to start. Hopefully I can communicate why. Barely seen upon its release, Australian film Hail is an uncompromising drama completely grounded in real life. A real life suburbia the type of which is rarely featured onscreen.
The film begins with a close-up of a painting depicting demons and gods at war. It is a fitting starting point because the film is in many ways an examination of the waging of very individual wars, both internal and external. The film focuses on Dan, who has just been released from prison. There is hope, from him and those around him, that he will be able to get his life back on track. But it is not a fake, glib hope. It is a realistic one. The hope to scrounge enough in a legal manner to get by and maybe spoil the woman you love with a few drinks at the local club every so often. Dan knows that people like him cannot really hope to rise much higher than that in contemporary Australian society. Having said all that, those are goals that you really hope and desire that Dan can achieve, to get his life back on track. The narrative is essentially linear, though not exactly what you would call straightforward. Especially early on, what takes place is more a succession of events and moments – sex, the tender moments afterward, having a drink, getting a job, smoking dope – before things gradually crystallise into a stronger narrative core.
The two incredible stars of Hail
I should warn you that Hail is an exceptionally difficult watch. There are shocking acts of violence. Some are shocking because they explode out of nowhere, others because of the truly heinous nature of what is being committed. Part of the reason behind that is the style in which it is shot. Which is actually a hard style to describe. In many ways, the grainy look and realism is similar to the style that made Snowtown (2011) such an ordeal. But having said that, many aspects of the film are actually shot in a really hyper-artistic, borderline avant-garde manner with images passing by and going in and out of focus. These sequences at times feel like a beautiful relief from the oppressing viewing of the film. Dan never shies away from his past. But as a man who is only just keeping it together, one crushing event brings him totally undone. And it is from this point that the clash of styles I have just mentioned is used to really quite devastating, disorientating effect. The performances are very naturalistic in their execution, the characters are predominately played by non-professionals and the events onscreen reflect in some ways those that these men and women have experienced in their real lives. Daniel P. Jones who plays Dan has a very intense presence onscreen that he channels into moments of both endearment and rage. Indeed, in a good way, he delivers more of a ‘presence’ rather than a traditional performance I think.
Hail is a searing film. A fantastic one, that I don’t think I ever want to see again. It shows one man’s journey through punishment, hope, retribution, all of it encased in layers of lost love and guilt. Watching Dan the character and Daniel P. Jones the actor approach his life, so “frightened of the unknown” is highly original, and highly effecting cinema.
Verdict: Pint of Kilkenny
Like what you read? Then please like Not Now I’m Drinking a Beer and Watching a Movie on facebook here and follow me on twitter @beer_movie.
Storm Surfers
The Australian surf documentary Storm Surfers (2012) took out the Best Feature Doco category at the most recent AACTA Awards. It was also, I believe, the first Aussie doco to be filmed in 3D. Whilst I was unable to see the film in 3D, it was definitely one of the most visually arresting films that I have seen in quite some time.
The film starts off with a massive wipe-out to emphasise the rather dangerous nature of big wave surfing as a pursuit. From there, we meet the two surfers whose big wave odyssey the film follows. Both are Australian and in their younger days surfed on the pro-tour – Tom Carroll was the golden boy of the tour, winning two world titles and garnering big money sponsorship; whilst his mate Ross Clarke-Jones, also an incredible surfer, enjoyed the tour mainly for the partying. Unless you are in the (presumably vast) minority of my readers who are professional big-wave surfers, Storm Surfers will repeatedly boggle your mind. To me, it is insane that you can surf utterly huge waves, 75 kilometres from the coast. The fact that in this day and age, there are still top-secret surf breaks that people inside that world have never heard of. Other questions will arise for you too, like who in the world first thought it would be a good idea to combine jet skis and surfing? In addition to these kinds of facts and questions, the sheer beauty of much of the photography in the water is truly something to behold. Shots from inside barrels and attached to surf boards only add to the exhilaration. The success of these innovations is that they help convey the kinetic intensity and activity of what these people are undertaking. Indeed if the film was just a collection of images with this kind of beauty, it would still be well worth checking out.
Perhaps the area where Storm Surfers succeeds most though is in bringing a ‘human’ side to the incredible power of the images onscreen. Tom and Ross are not young men, 51 and 47 respectively. And the film shows the impact that ageing is having on these two blokes, however young at heart they may be. Tom especially struggles with the physical and mental strains of throwing yourself headlong at waves that strike sheer terror into everyone else. His role as a diligent father only adds to the conflicts that surfing big waves bring to his perspective on life. With their pranks and manner of speaking, Tom and Ross are really just two teenagers that have never grown up. Which sounds terrible and makes them sound like two blokes it would be mind numbing to spend a 90 minute film with. But in reality, it makes these two men endearing, their fun loving pursuit of just doing what they feel like, is in a way strangely inspiring. As is their ability to break down the philosophy behind surfing and convey that to a wide audience. In addition, to dismiss them as just fun-loving guys is to do them a disservice. In addition to Tom’s aforementioned parenthood, in his younger days he jeopardised his chances of winning his third world title in 1985 by refusing to take part in the South African leg of the world tour, as a protest against that country’s apartheid policies. I guess it is this bringing to life of two complex men that separates the film from a traditional surf flick.
I really recommend this film, even if you do not have a particular interest in surfing (I don’t). For starters it looks incredible, but more than that, these two men and the lifestyle they represent are truly interesting. The film is also, in its own way, a look at how ageing affects people and the best way to approach that part of our lives.
Verdict Pint of Kilkenny
Like what you read? Then please like Not Now I’m Drinking a Beer and Watching a Movie on facebook here and follow me on twitter @beer_movie.
Oscar and Lucinda
When I was in high school, I was forced to read Peter Carey’s Oscar and Lucinda, which was at that time the most boring book I had ever read. I’m the kind of guy who will persevere with a book, refusing to stop reading before the end, even if it takes me months and months of grind to get there. But I had to give up on Oscar and Lucinda. More recently I read Carey’s True History of the Kelly Gang which is one of my favourite two Australian novels of all time, so who knows if my earlier Carey experience was based on my teenage mind not being ready for it, or the actual quality of the book.
Director Gillian Armstrong brought Oscar and Lucinda (1997) to the big screen, harnessing the talents of Ralph Fiennes and Cate Blanchett along the way. It is an altogether eccentric film, predominately due to the tale it is telling, but thankfully I found it far more enjoyable than its source novel. However somewhat strangely, I felt the film did not inspire that many thoughts or ideas in me about what I thought of it and how to examine it. Which is not to say I do not like the film, it is just that usually I have far too many things to say about a film which I don’t think is the case here. More than that, I felt at a distance from the story the entire time, as though I was not able to access the real core of the narrative or get a foothold into what was going on. The rather absurd story focuses on the two titular characters and what happens when the paths of their lives eventually intertwine. The entire film is a character study of Fiennes’ Oscar and Blanchett’s Lucinda. The narrative takes a freewheeling approach to this study. It begins in the childhood and youth of the two. Sees Oscar’s eventual emigration to Australia and his meeting with Lucinda, brought together by a shared lust for gambling. When it veers into love story territory it just seems to work really quite well. Which is also true of the part that follows which sees Oscar go on quite the physical and metaphysical journey.
Probably the real joy of this film is its cast. Both the leads give terrific performances. Blanchett, in a quite early screen role, is fantastic as the young woman trying to find her way – a fish out of water who eventually grows to be extremely confident in her surroundings. Fiennes is very good at bringing the awkward, almost bumbling at times, Oscar to life. He utilises various tics and eccentricities into the performance but they never distract from it. The film looks incredible, taking advantage of the excellent cinematography to bring fantastic scenery from both Australia and Oscar’s native England to the screen. Thematically, the film sort of touches on a bunch of things without really engaging with any too deeply. Faith and the different kinds of Christianity are explored, as is greed, gambling, sex and the notion of responsibility in sexual relationships, but none of these dominate the film. Part of this may be because in some ways the narrative is a little unbalanced. Some plot points, Oscar’s excommunication from the Church a prime example, are basically overlooked when you feel they could be examined in much more detail.
Oscar and Lucinda is a bit of strange film. Definitely worth checking out for the lead performances, the quirky narrative may well endear itself to you. Though by the same token you may also find yourself rather frustrated by it.
Verdict: Stubby of Reschs
Like what you read? Then please like Not Now I’m Drinking a Beer and Watching a Movie on facebook here and follow me on twitter @beer_movie.
The Wedding Party
The Wedding Party (2011) is an Australian comedy which did not garner very much attention when it was released recently. Perhaps the dramatic aspects of the film could have been played up a little more, because this combo of the two genres deserves to be seen by a lot more people.
The film sees Steve, crushed by a recent breakup, becoming engaged to Ana a recent arrival from Russia. Money for him, a Visa to stay in the country for her. The film does jump straight into this setup, and the lack of reinforcement of the reasons that this is the only course of action for Steve does make it jar a little. Especially given he is clearly still enamoured with his ex-girlfriend Jacqui and their break-up seems to be more of a ‘break’ at this stage. However any criticism of this lack of logic is pretty easily forgotten as the film gets going with what it is aiming for. What makes this relationship drama/gentle comedy so good is that it all feels very real. The interactions between people are not sanitised as is so often the case on screen. All the fuckups, betrayals and wonderful experiences that we have all experienced in our actual lives are accurately and interestingly displayed onscreen. This is set up nicely through the voiceover of a 14 year old girl who is extremely naive about what a ‘normal’ relationship looks like. Perhaps there isn’t such a thing, but if there is, her first relationship of new experiences with her boyfriend is probably the closest to one in the film. One of the great strengths of the film is this structure, which sees a number of secondary relationships weaved into the narrative behind the core emotional struggles of Steve. These all feed into how we feel about the concept of love itself and specifically into Steve’s relationship with his Russian bride to be Ana, and love of his life Jacqui. All of these secondary relationships have issues – premature ejaculation, porn addiction, adultery, disinterest from one party or both – that are brought to life with a refreshingly open attitude toward these aspects of modern day life.
The Wedding Party has some real charm to it, a very old fashioned comedy with a very old school narrative contrivance at the centre. The attempts to keep this arranged marriage on the down low are always destined to fail. But what happens when it does come out is a delightful spiralling out of control wedding planning venture. And where many films with this kind of setup fall down, wrapping everything up in a satisfying manner, this film excels because it is not afraid to leave a few of the narrative and relationship strands open. No twee happy endings for all. The script is a winner, especially as it manages to create quite a few characters and give them all the sufficient screen time to make them feel real and individual. The cast, made up by predominately instantly recognisable Australian performers along with a couple of less familiar ones, does a really good job of bringing these very real relationships to the screen. It is great to see Rhonda Burchmore back on screen, even if her role is only a small one. Isabel Lucas rocking a Russian accent was something that I did not expect to work out well for anyone. But in a pleasant surprise she keeps the accent consistent and more than that really comes to embody the character that she is playing. You believe that she is in this vulnerable yet strangely proactive position. Aussie veteran Steve Bisley is very good as the family patriarch who gets very enthusiastic about the wedding. Playing his son, and the film’s protagonist, is Josh Lawson whose background is in comedy, but in the very well performed wedding scene, proves he has some dramatic chops too (Lucas is also very good in this sequence, which is possibly the high point of the film).
The Wedding Party is a light, but very real film. It is possibly the film that has impressed me most since I started focusing on Australian film. I definitely recommend this one if you are after a very authentic, rather off-kilter drama about love, with some good laughs thrown in too.
Verdict: Pint of Kilkenny
Like what you read? Then please like Not Now I’m Drinking a Beer and Watching a Movie on facebook here.
Road Train
I always try and be as respectful as possible when reviewing any film, and even though I try to be as unbiased as possible, this is especially true when reviewing Australian films. However I think that the greatest disrespect to an Australian film on my part would be to give it an easy ride when sharing my thoughts with you all.
It is from this perspective that I have to say Road Train (2010) is one of the most abysmal films I have ever endured. The film was just so disappointing because I thought the premise had a whole lot of potential, even if it did seem to be a little derivative of Spielberg’s Duel (1971). The film sees two young couples on an outback camping trip harassed by and eventually forced off the road by a rogue road train. And then something or other happens. It is not exactly clear what. And it is not at all enjoyable to watch. In fact it is simultaneously mind numbingly boring and mind blowingly rubbish. A quick diversion into Australian terminology here, as I believe Road Train was released under a different title in different markets. A road train is simply a massive truck that drives freight throughout outback Australia. They are literally trains on the road, some of them many carriages long. I think they are unique to Australia, utilised because of the sheer size and remoteness of much of the country. So they are a seriously imposing piece of machinery. That could be put to some seriously wicked use in a thriller/horror film. Needless to say the idea deserves better than this effort which actually feels sort of like a film made by teenagers on a weekend, but you know, with a really expensive camera.
This is not even a film that wastes a lot of really great components. It is a film that basically fails on every level, with all it has going for it a fantastic premise and the beautiful scenery in which it is shot. Aside from that it is inexplicably bad. Worst of all (probably) is the horribly obscure plot. A little intrigue is nice, even integral to a good thriller or horror flick. But you have to at least hint at the malevolence that is at play to get people in. You cannot just leave it entirely obscured. Especially given that it is not as if there is some awesome M. Night twist to blow your feeble little minds towards the end. It is gradually revealed that the truck sends people kinda mad… and there is a mincer where you can put human bodies in one of the trailers. Or some shit like that. I didn’t care and you won’t either. The script of the film is clunky, cringeworthy and terrible, which is not helped by the four young leads who deliver it being decidedly average. The sole exception is Sophie Lowe of Beautiful Kate (2009) fame, but even she can only rise to ok levels, basically down to the material she is given to work with. There are a couple of action sequences that should be really incredible, especially one early on where the road train runs our heroes’ car off the road. But even that cannot raise the collective heart beat of those watching.
It is strange actually, every time that you think Road Train cannot get any worse, it actually does. Tis like some cruel joke and the 86 minute running time drags and feels a whole lot worse than that. No film can overcome a script and acting this terrible. Especially this one with zero scares, zero atmosphere and just zero semi-interesting elements.
Verdict: Schooner of Tooheys New
Like what you read? Then please like Not Now I’m Drinking a Beer and Watching a Movie on facebook here
Dead Europe
Christos Tsiolkas has in recent years become one of the most lauded ‘literary’ Australian authors. His novel The Slap published in 2008 was a runaway success and a book I studied at uni. Also a book I hated. But that is neither here nor there. This review is of Dead Europe (2012), an adaptation of an earlier Tsiolkas novel I have not read.
The film follows Isaac, a Greek-Australian, who returns to Greece to scatter his father’s ashes. This literal journey becomes a metaphorical one as Isaac finds out plenty of secrets about his family, most ones he would prefer not to have discovered. Isaac is also a photographer, and this is an interesting lens that the film is seen through. The incorporation of photography is one of the real strengths of the film as ideas of representation and presentation are explored and played with through this device. I think the film is strongest early on, when it chooses to deliver things relatively straight. The death of Isaac’s father and the resulting discussions concerning his burial and the familial squabbles that follow are the most effective parts of the film. When Isaac reaches Europe, there is no doubt that the intrigue picks up, but for me, it was not in an entirely successful manner. There are hints of ghost story, of road movie and a blurring of the lines between dream and reality. But ultimately there is a central journey that is far too oblique and distant from the audience. I think that when you take this approach, suggesting different genre and taking a really bold thematic approach, the film needs to be taut. However this film is just a bit too slipshod to make it work.
Dead Europe is a pretty unrelenting film. It has an intense start and does not really let up. Abuse, incest, sexuality, violence, paedophilia are all dealt with at one time or another. Narratively, this is definitely not a straight point A to point B excursion, rather revelling in etherealness. Unfortunately the script, which starts so strongly, really fades over the second half of the film. Alongside the extremely troubling issues listed above, the film also deals with faith, identity (both Australian & European), the notion of curses and legacy. And whilst this is all interesting enough, the film does not manage to draw them all together into an interesting or satisfying whole. The performances are excellent, in really quite challenging roles. As the protagonist Isaac, Ewen Leslie delivers, balancing a realistic performance with definite charisma. As his deplorable brother Nico, Martin Csokas delivers a troubling firecracker of a supporting turn which almost single-handedly makes the film worth checking out.
Overall, whilst the film has some intriguing ideas that are presented in some intriguing ways, it is an altogether too distant experience. Which is disappointing, because as a revealing of family secrets tale, this had a ton of potential.
Verdict: Schooner of Carlton Draught
Like what you read? Then please like Not Now I’m Drinking a Beer and Watching a Movie on facebook here
Beermovie.net 