....starring Aussies Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman and I enjoyed it.
The Link
It was directed by fellow Australian Baz Luhmann, whose last project was "Moulin Rouge," and I thought this often visually stunning movie was a successful throwback and tip of the hat to such good movies as "Gone with the Wind," "Red River," "The Cowboys," "The Big Country," "Giant," "The Sundowners," "Hawaii," "The Thornbirds," "Out of Africa" and "The Lion King," plus "Titanic," a film that sank in several ways, and that even greater cinema disaster, "Pearl Harbor."
If your cinematic tastes don't favor such film fare, even when it's pretty good, you'd best stay away: because at 165 minutes this sweeping, history-based epic is actually almost two movies in one, the second completing the story begun in the first.
I consistently find that Miss Kidman is a fine actress, who elevates every film she does, and Jackman was good too.
Had this motion picture been made a number of years ago, we might have had to endure Tom Cruise in the male leading role.
Jackman is far and away (note my clever choice of words) better than Nicole's former spouse would have been in a performance that needed to be somewhat evocative of Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones or Humphrey Bogart in "The African Queen."
There seemed to be genuine on screen chemistry between Lady Sarah Ashley and Drover.
She plays upper crust being challenged by unexpected circumstance quite well and he is actually believable as an independent cowboy of the Outback who uses such words as "mate," "billabong" and "Crikey!!!"
Could Tom Cruise even vocalize a believable "Crikey?"
If you enjoy sweeping, adventure-filled, sometimes weepy, romantic melodramas that aren't exclusively chick flicks, strikingly set and filmed, telling an interesting, even if perfectly predictable, story.....
And if you will overlook how much the endearing young actor, who plays the half-caste Aborigine boy narrating the story, sounds like Jar Jar Binks......
Or if you'll allow the natural scenic beauty of Australia, the strange mysticism of its native people and the robust eclecticism of the English-speaking newcomers to enchant and amuse you, this is a movie worth seeing.
It cost me $5.50, your ticket expense may vary.
IMHO, the computer generated images of cattle stampeding and the city of Darwin under Japanese attack visually came in far behind the cinematography of the Outback.
Many potential viewers won't take the time or even have an inclination to check out the scope, spectacle and detail of this entertaining period piece and I understand that, different strokes and all.
This is "Crocodile Dundee" meeting all those movies I mentioned earlier.
I mean that as a compliment, because for the right audience, male and/or female and even families with kids 10 and up who have the patience for movies, I thought this cinema experience worked.....especially on the big screen.
This movie is visually driven at least as much as it's story driven.
But we've seen all these story elements many times before in many other films.
So small screen viewing might not be as worthwhile.
However, because of its length, being able to watch the beginning up through the first climax at the end of the cattle drive and then later finish the second part of the story might be a good plan, provided you have a big enough TV screen to do justice to the awesome natural scenery.
It's a well-photographed travelogue of a Land Down Under, a spirited tale of regionalism, racism, rogues, rustling, romance, retribution, roundups, range war, real war, revenge, rescue, rainfall, recalcitrance and reunion for the characters in this movie and a stirring reuse of those plot elements for experienced movie viewers who've seen it all before in previous films.
So, some movie goers will appreciate and enjoy this visually transporting flick and some won't.
I liked it.
Hopefully, this review helps you decide which way the kangaroo's gonna hop for you.
The Link
It was directed by fellow Australian Baz Luhmann, whose last project was "Moulin Rouge," and I thought this often visually stunning movie was a successful throwback and tip of the hat to such good movies as "Gone with the Wind," "Red River," "The Cowboys," "The Big Country," "Giant," "The Sundowners," "Hawaii," "The Thornbirds," "Out of Africa" and "The Lion King," plus "Titanic," a film that sank in several ways, and that even greater cinema disaster, "Pearl Harbor."
If your cinematic tastes don't favor such film fare, even when it's pretty good, you'd best stay away: because at 165 minutes this sweeping, history-based epic is actually almost two movies in one, the second completing the story begun in the first.
I consistently find that Miss Kidman is a fine actress, who elevates every film she does, and Jackman was good too.
Had this motion picture been made a number of years ago, we might have had to endure Tom Cruise in the male leading role.
Jackman is far and away (note my clever choice of words) better than Nicole's former spouse would have been in a performance that needed to be somewhat evocative of Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones or Humphrey Bogart in "The African Queen."
There seemed to be genuine on screen chemistry between Lady Sarah Ashley and Drover.
She plays upper crust being challenged by unexpected circumstance quite well and he is actually believable as an independent cowboy of the Outback who uses such words as "mate," "billabong" and "Crikey!!!"
Could Tom Cruise even vocalize a believable "Crikey?"
If you enjoy sweeping, adventure-filled, sometimes weepy, romantic melodramas that aren't exclusively chick flicks, strikingly set and filmed, telling an interesting, even if perfectly predictable, story.....
And if you will overlook how much the endearing young actor, who plays the half-caste Aborigine boy narrating the story, sounds like Jar Jar Binks......
Or if you'll allow the natural scenic beauty of Australia, the strange mysticism of its native people and the robust eclecticism of the English-speaking newcomers to enchant and amuse you, this is a movie worth seeing.
It cost me $5.50, your ticket expense may vary.
IMHO, the computer generated images of cattle stampeding and the city of Darwin under Japanese attack visually came in far behind the cinematography of the Outback.
Many potential viewers won't take the time or even have an inclination to check out the scope, spectacle and detail of this entertaining period piece and I understand that, different strokes and all.
This is "Crocodile Dundee" meeting all those movies I mentioned earlier.
I mean that as a compliment, because for the right audience, male and/or female and even families with kids 10 and up who have the patience for movies, I thought this cinema experience worked.....especially on the big screen.
This movie is visually driven at least as much as it's story driven.
But we've seen all these story elements many times before in many other films.
So small screen viewing might not be as worthwhile.
However, because of its length, being able to watch the beginning up through the first climax at the end of the cattle drive and then later finish the second part of the story might be a good plan, provided you have a big enough TV screen to do justice to the awesome natural scenery.
It's a well-photographed travelogue of a Land Down Under, a spirited tale of regionalism, racism, rogues, rustling, romance, retribution, roundups, range war, real war, revenge, rescue, rainfall, recalcitrance and reunion for the characters in this movie and a stirring reuse of those plot elements for experienced movie viewers who've seen it all before in previous films.
So, some movie goers will appreciate and enjoy this visually transporting flick and some won't.
I liked it.
Hopefully, this review helps you decide which way the kangaroo's gonna hop for you.
