Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Movie review - "Return Home" (1989) ***

Cinematographers don’t have the greatest track record when it comes to turning director (Don McAlpine, Gordon Willis, John Seale, etc); there are of course exceptions, including Ray Argall who also wrote this simple, rich film.

Dennis Coard (later Michael off Home and Away) is a divorced insurance broker from the city who returns home to visit his brother (Frankie J Holden). Coard envies Holden’s simple life, happy marriage and nice kids – but Holden is in a financial mess. Ben Mendelsohn plays Holden’s mechanic with whom Coard strikes up an intriguing relationship.

Not a lot happens on the surface, but there’s a lot going on underneath and it all works beautifully on its own terms. Mandy Walker did the stunning photography, which perhaps has one or two sunset scenes that are a bit gratuitous. Good extras on the DVD, including two of Argall’s short films, deleted scenes and a segment from the SBS Movie Show.

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