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Review: Far Away 'Australia' Has Ups, Downs
Movie's Length Takes Toll
POSTED: 8:51 am CST November 26, 2008
'Australia' (PG-13)
(out of four)A cast of thousands with Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman at the center makes "Australia," an almost three hour long movie, an epic, for sure: yet the film also feels like you're being taken hostage for the evening. "Australia" is a journey that visionary filmmaker Baz ("Moulin Rouge") Luhrmann wanted to make, but would the expensive film be something that moviegoers would enjoy or merely endure?That's a matter of opinion. From the onset, the complicated story takes time to figure out. Set in Australia, naturally, an English aristocrat, Lady Sarah Ashley (Kidman), leaves all the comforts of home in London to find her husband who has gone off to a place called Faraway Downs.She's decided to take the trek to find out if he has been involved in a love affair at the cattle ranch he's been forced to sell off due to financial reasons.The beginning of the film is a mish mash of situations. Sarah is picked up by a guide in a rickety truck, a drunkard man sits between her and the rough driver. A brawling bar scene is even more confusing and used as a backdrop for Sarah's underthings to become part of the antics. It's circa 1939 funny.The film takes place from 1939 to 1942 with lots of shots of desert terrain, plenty of CGI cattle herds, an involved story of greed, death, witchcraft and some really great costumes.Channeling Clint Eastwood in the early moments of the film, Jackman also shows shades of Clark Gable, Humphrey Bogart and even Spencer Tracy. People magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive" plays the rugged Drover, a cowboy who says that "no man hires him and no man fires him." He lives his life for the land and cattle.Jackman gets plenty of screen time to look rancher handsome with a beard, tight cattleman's costume, and, at one point, a sexy water scene in slow motion. We also get the clean shaven, doe-eyed version of Jackman in a tuxedo dressed like a prince for a ball.Kidman opts for a terse lipped Katharine Hepburn as she sits upright in overloaded truck that carries her in an awkward bit of symbolism to self discovery. As her character evolves, she lets loose and that's where the real talent of Kidman shines through. Despite some goofy moments, she keeps her wits.Director Lurhmann wanted to make a movie gigantic proportions and so he has, yet he's borrowed from just about every giant movie ever made. As the city of Darwin burns after Japanese forces bomb the town and Faraway Downs is burning too, it's reminiscent of Tara in "Gone With the Wind," as are other elements. The beginning of the film recollects "Out of Africa" and "African Queen."Even Luhrmann's love of "The Wizard of Oz" plays corny as Sarah teaches an aboriginal boy, Nullah (Brandon Walters) the lyrics to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," which becomes an anthem to his life.As the film spool unreels (yes, we know it's the digital age, but Luhrmann wants you to feel as if you're watching one of those early Louis B. Mayer pictures), believability starts to get thrown out the window along with any sense of reality.Movies are supposed to take you away, but must we be forced to buy into the impossible? Kidman survives a serious blast, a group of wayward children sent to an island make it through a barrage of intense B-52 bombers, and Drover overcomes Herculean odds just in the knick of time.There's no argument that this film has Academy Award written all over it and for that reason it's worth the investment of time. The way Luhrmann weaves his visionary tale and the overall originality of the story is also worth noting.Yet there are moments when you believe the lights will come up and despite another hour being left in the film, you'll be hard pressed to figure out what Luhrmann can throw at you next.Half way into the film when Sarah tells Nullah she's been caring for "Let's go home," Luhrmann's trickery makes you think that means you too. But no, there's more.As I checked my watch for the fifth time, my movie companion turned to me and said: "The Japanese haven't even invaded yet."As Sarah says in the film when things are becoming almost unbearable, "Oh, crikey!"
(out of four)A cast of thousands with Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman at the center makes "Australia," an almost three hour long movie, an epic, for sure: yet the film also feels like you're being taken hostage for the evening. "Australia" is a journey that visionary filmmaker Baz ("Moulin Rouge") Luhrmann wanted to make, but would the expensive film be something that moviegoers would enjoy or merely endure?That's a matter of opinion. From the onset, the complicated story takes time to figure out. Set in Australia, naturally, an English aristocrat, Lady Sarah Ashley (Kidman), leaves all the comforts of home in London to find her husband who has gone off to a place called Faraway Downs.She's decided to take the trek to find out if he has been involved in a love affair at the cattle ranch he's been forced to sell off due to financial reasons.The beginning of the film is a mish mash of situations. Sarah is picked up by a guide in a rickety truck, a drunkard man sits between her and the rough driver. A brawling bar scene is even more confusing and used as a backdrop for Sarah's underthings to become part of the antics. It's circa 1939 funny.The film takes place from 1939 to 1942 with lots of shots of desert terrain, plenty of CGI cattle herds, an involved story of greed, death, witchcraft and some really great costumes.Channeling Clint Eastwood in the early moments of the film, Jackman also shows shades of Clark Gable, Humphrey Bogart and even Spencer Tracy. People magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive" plays the rugged Drover, a cowboy who says that "no man hires him and no man fires him." He lives his life for the land and cattle.Jackman gets plenty of screen time to look rancher handsome with a beard, tight cattleman's costume, and, at one point, a sexy water scene in slow motion. We also get the clean shaven, doe-eyed version of Jackman in a tuxedo dressed like a prince for a ball.Kidman opts for a terse lipped Katharine Hepburn as she sits upright in overloaded truck that carries her in an awkward bit of symbolism to self discovery. As her character evolves, she lets loose and that's where the real talent of Kidman shines through. Despite some goofy moments, she keeps her wits.Director Lurhmann wanted to make a movie gigantic proportions and so he has, yet he's borrowed from just about every giant movie ever made. As the city of Darwin burns after Japanese forces bomb the town and Faraway Downs is burning too, it's reminiscent of Tara in "Gone With the Wind," as are other elements. The beginning of the film recollects "Out of Africa" and "African Queen."Even Luhrmann's love of "The Wizard of Oz" plays corny as Sarah teaches an aboriginal boy, Nullah (Brandon Walters) the lyrics to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," which becomes an anthem to his life.As the film spool unreels (yes, we know it's the digital age, but Luhrmann wants you to feel as if you're watching one of those early Louis B. Mayer pictures), believability starts to get thrown out the window along with any sense of reality.Movies are supposed to take you away, but must we be forced to buy into the impossible? Kidman survives a serious blast, a group of wayward children sent to an island make it through a barrage of intense B-52 bombers, and Drover overcomes Herculean odds just in the knick of time.There's no argument that this film has Academy Award written all over it and for that reason it's worth the investment of time. The way Luhrmann weaves his visionary tale and the overall originality of the story is also worth noting.Yet there are moments when you believe the lights will come up and despite another hour being left in the film, you'll be hard pressed to figure out what Luhrmann can throw at you next.Half way into the film when Sarah tells Nullah she's been caring for "Let's go home," Luhrmann's trickery makes you think that means you too. But no, there's more.As I checked my watch for the fifth time, my movie companion turned to me and said: "The Japanese haven't even invaded yet."As Sarah says in the film when things are becoming almost unbearable, "Oh, crikey!" Copyright 2008, Internet Broadcasting. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
