Australia

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, Bryan Brown, Jack Thompson, David Wenham
Directed by: Baz Luhrmann
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Romance
2008

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A socialite (Nicole Kidman) travels to Australia to discover her husband has been killed. She teams with a local cattle driver (Hugh Jackman) to drive cattle across the continent to save her ranch. They also get caught up in the Japanese attack on Darwin during World War II.

Review:

Tim: Director Baz Luhrmann set out to give us a Gone With the Wind type romantic dramatic epic about Australia. He certainly gives us a huge, sprawling epic that feels about as big as the Land Down Under itself. Unfortunately, this film is deeply flawed, and can't compare to those timeless classics it seeks to emulate. This is a massive ambitious effort that only manages to disappoint.

There are some problems with the cast. Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman were both well cast, although their performances vary. Nicole Kidman started out the movie in just terrible fashion. The first 30-40 minutes of the movie features her ridiculous overacting, making stupid gestures and coming across quite pathetic. I hated her in this movie for the first part. However, as the movie goes on, she gets better and better. Kidman does have some impressive moments, but they come in the middle and end of the film. I am not sure why this is the case- perhaps the earlier scenes just lent themselves to hamming it up. She is good, but at various points, terrible. I can't remember the last time I saw such a back-and-forth performance. Jackman, on the other hand, is fairly strong throughout. His even paced, level performance greatly helped the film. When Kidman was too over-the-top, he helped to keep me engaged and grounded in the story. Kidman and Jackman don't have tremendous amounts of chemistry, but they did work well together and I liked them on screen.

This movie is often a bloated, full-of-its own importance epic. There is truly no reason for this movie to be 165 minutes long. Luhrmann would have given us a more effective film if he cut out at least 20 minutes of it. I understand the desire to create a massive epic, but there are limits, too. Now, while the movie as a whole is a bit much, there are some truly inspired scenes. The stampede scene was absolutely jaw-dropping. It is one of the most exciting, inspired scenes I have seen in recent months. I loved this scene and it represents the best that this movie had to offer. The attack on Darwin is also fairly impressive. The cinematography in this film is truly brilliant. I loved seeing Australia in the background of this film.

Australia is a movie that is really all over the place. You have drama, adventure, romance, history, and some puzzling magical qualities. I love when movies try to be all things to all people, but only when they are executed properly. This movie would have been more effective if it truly did some of these things well, dropping off a few others. The movie just gets bogged down with itself, making it almost a chore to get through. I definitely appreciate the scope and the attempt of Australia, but I also desperately wished I could have enjoyed this movie more.



Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Gone With the Wind, Moulin Rouge, Pearl Harbor, Titanic, Lawrence of Arabia, Ned Kelly