Movie review - "Somersault" (2004) ***

Would have made a really, really, excellent 30 minute film. The acting is superb, particularly Abbie Cornish in the lead, the atmosphere of Jindabyne lustrous (its wonderful to see this on film), the handling sensitive, it's obviously made by people of great talent. But after awhile it's like "and is there anything else?" For instance, did we need two scenes of Abbie hitting the turps in a nightclub while "Shazam"plays on the soundtrack? Watching this I kept thinking of the Britney Spears song "Not a Girl Not Yet a Woman" - for that encapsulates the story as much as everything else. And the gay farmer feels a bit Bondi."Hmm... there's this character... he's a farmer... and he's gay." Having said that, the film didn't deserve the backlash its gotten since - it was just over-hyped by a media desperate to report some positive news about Australian cinema.