This suffered a little at the time in comparison with The Year My Voice Broke but has developed its own reputation and cult following. It's more positive, less harrowing, more warm... though boarding school is clearly still horrible.
John Duigan's sense of observation is as strong as ever. This is full of recognisable scenes and moments: the dopey idiot with braces (Kiri Paramore is perfect as a true Australian type), the chubby kid with boobs talking about girl breasts, the dopey school captain hero who is dull as dishwater talking about his grazier father being "a man for all seasons", the banter, the depiction of racism, the sadism of Marshall Napier, the amiable ignorance of Jeff Truman, the bullying "Backa" Burke, the awkward chat between Newton's and Taylor's parents.
Nicole Kidman is a little too old for her part not helped by the wig (and her dimension basically means she wants it). It's fun to see Naomi Watts and Kym Wilson as her mates though neither has much to do or play. Bartholomew Roberts is great as Noah Taylor's pompous friend, another familiar type.
Thandie Newton and Noah Taylor are superb in their roles - it does make a difference knowing that Newton and Duigan had an affair.
But it's a lovely romantic film full of excellent moments.
No comments:
Post a Comment