Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Movie review - "The Dressmaker" (2015) *** (warning: spoilers)

I resisted seeing this for a while - the poster turned me off - but enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I wasn't wild about the OTT Jane Campion-eseque direction, complete with broad rural caricatures and wacky acting. I never really enjoy that tone. But it's a strong story, which cleverly subverts Western tropes - the gunslinger is a dressmaker, coming back into her old small town to get revenge and solve the mystery.

There's mysterious corrupt officials and shonky townspeople. It's a great star role for Kate Winslet but also Liam Hemsworth who is a good leading man (not sure he's a star but he's a perfect leading man  handsome, virile).

The support cast is full of names - Sarah Snook, Barry Otto, Hugo Weaving, Shane Jacobsen, Gyton Grantley. The photography is beautiful and the dresses well done.

I felt once the mystery was solved the film lost a lot of momentum. The death of Hemsworth was a real shock but the film never really got it's "roll" back. Still, a satisfying ending.

No comments: