Australia: Review By MovieBuff

I’ve read a few reviews where critics claim this movie to be a masterpiece. Um… no. But it IS an excellent film with an excellent story. The only reason I believe it is NOT a masterpiece, in my opinion, is that in order for it to be so, it has to be flawless. Perfect. This movie is NOT either.

The film is actually about three characters…. Lady Sarah Ashley, the Drover, and Nullah. Nullah (Brandon Walters) plays the narrator and the viewer is introduced to Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman), an English aristocrat who takes over her late husband's cattle station in Australia, close to the city of Darwin. She is caught in a rivalry with fellow beef exporter King Carney (Bryan Brown), however, so she hires the services of The Drover (Hugh Jackman) to herd 1500 head of cattle in order to fulfill a contract with the Australian Army. Of course, Carney is not going to make that easy for them since he wants the contract and profits that come with it for himself. So, he sends his men, led by Neil Fletcher (David Wenhem) to stop the drive. Now, the story isn’t totally about the cattle drive as it also reveals the relationship between Sarah Ashley and Drover… and their feelings toward one another. Throw in a little aboriginal boy, named Nullah, in the mix and a great story actually develops in front of your very eyes.

I personally think the story is absolutely enticing and captivating, but there are flaws to this so-called epic. Where the story excels, the pace of the film and the visuals are lacking. I actually disagree with some of my colleagues that claim the running time flies by so fast that it is not noticeable… believe me, I noticed. This 2 hour and 45 minute film could have been edited approximately 30 minutes shorter and nothing would have been taken away from the story. In fact, I would have probably joined my fellow reviewers by calling it a “masterpiece” myself. Unfortunately, it IS slightly too long.

Another flaw I see with the film is the visuals. Not all of them, mind you, but some. Where the scenery was beautiful every time they showed Australia’s landscape, there were plenty of times that director Baz Luhrmann decided to use CGI for some of the action. I thought the scene where the cattle is running next to a cliff looked so fake and uninspiring that it reminded me of Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull where the jeeps are careening by a cliff as well. It also reminded me of Peter Jackson’s King Kong scene where the dinosaurs are running next to a cliff. In all three of these films, the scenes looks fake and CGI is clearly and obviously used. Now, I know we can’t have actual stuntmen or cattle racing (and falling) off cliffs, but the CGI can be so much better. I will also disagree with another reviewer that stated the Japanese bombing scenes of Darwin were more realistic than the bombings of Pearl Harbor in the movie with the same name. Poppyc*ck. Not even close. Although the CGI Japanese bombing scenes are much better than the CGI used for the cattle at the cliff scene, it isn’t too believable. When the camera pans back to show the entire city of Darwin in flames after the bombing, it actually looks like a painting. Some of my fellow reviewers need to see this movie a second time and pay a little more attention to the scenes I just mentioned.

Now, comes the excellent part of the movie. Besides the actual story, the acting is absolutely fabulous. Nicole Kidman plays upper scale society very well. There were two scenes I just simply loved her acting in. One, when she first meets Drover at a bar and her luggage is accidentally opened and all her underwear is exposed to everyone. Her reaction is one of embarrassment, anger, and shock. Absolutely classic. The second is the scene when she has to part with Nullah. I won’t say when or why, but she clearly does a fantastic job in the scene.

Jackman, meanwhile, reminds me of a Clint Eastwood character as he plays the Drover rough and tough but with a sensitive side which provided eye candy for female viewers. I don’t think this film will garner him an Oscar, but he surely is on his way to one… soon.

The supporting roles were excellently played by great Australian talent such as Bryan Brown who is effective, but given very little screen time; Jack Thompson also does well as the alcoholic lawyer; and then there is David Wenham who plays evil very well and is perfect as the films key villain. Wenham shows a side I had never seen before in any of his characters. I mostly remember Wenham as Feramir in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, as the sidekick Carl in Van Helsing, and as Dilios in 300 and I don’t ever recall seeing an evil side of him. He is actually a likable character in all three of these films. But in Australia, you will absolutely come to despise his character. This is the sign of a great actor.

To sum up, Australia is a great story, but not of epic proportions as some of my fellow reviewers seem to think. Of course, this is just MY opinion and one needs to judge for oneself. And THAT I DO recommend. This is a “MUST SEE” film. The acting is amazing, the story is compelling, the scenery is extravagant… but … I still think it falls a little shy due to the length of the film and its visuals. Don’t take it from me, however, and please… go see this movie and tell me what YOU think.