Review: ‘Australia’

Travis:

It’s been so long, Baz… good to have you back! The simple but appropriately named ‘Australia’ is the newest film in the Luhrmann legacy. Who would have thought that an Australian filmmaker would end up making a gorgeous and entertaining film about his home country, casting Australians of all people in the lead roles and beyond? Go figure…

‘Australia’ stars Aussie stars Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman as Drover and Lady Sarah Ashley in this sweeping drama filled with romance, adventure and action. Drover is a man who lives by his own rules, carries everything he owns in his saddlebags as he drives livestock across the Outback during “the dry” while Lady Ashley is a prim and proper English woman who travels to Australia to deal with her husband’s alleged antics, only to find he has been murdered. Faced with the dilemma of what to do with her husband’s cattle station, Lady Ashley ends up hiring Drover as her new manager after giving Fletcher (David Wenham) the boot for being a very unsavory character. This sparks a load of animosity between Fletcher, Drover and Lady Ashley, much of which is centered around a young mixed-race Aboriginal boy named Nullah. There is so much more depth and detail to the story than this that I’m not even going to dip my fingers any deeper into what’s in store for you. Primarily because it would take too long, but also in the hopes you’ll do yourself a favor and see this film!

Luhrmann, as always, has really outdone himself. He’s succeeded in an area that so many director’s have attempted and not quite been able to master. ‘Australia’ is just shy of three hours but it truly doesn’t feel like it… well, except maybe in your tush. It’s been quite some time sense I’ve seen such an engaging film with so much to enjoy and such a diverse variety of strong elements. The film manages to have fun with itself without making fun of itself. The drama is real and the romance is not overly mushy or melodramatic, but just enough to maintain the proper mood. Really, this is a film in two parts, separated by the death of a significant character named King Carney (Bryan Brown).

‘Australia’ offers something for everyone. The panoramic vistas and landscapes will appeal to the western fans, the second half holds some incredible scenes of Japan blind-siding the northern Australian town of Darwin with an aerial assault. We witness an intense scene of action as Drover and his crew must attempt to stop their herd of cattle from stampeding to their deaths. For those of you who swoon over Jackman, I promise you will not be disappointed… or, so I’m told.

Finally, let’s talk Oscars. Why not? Everyone else will be. Jackman and Kidman do a fine job, but neither of their performances are Oscar-worthy. If anything, give the young Brandon Walters a nod for supporting actor as Nullah, who truly touched my heart as the most riveting character in the film. Lurhmann definitely could stand for best director and, while it’s a stretch, ‘Australia’ could even make an unlikely bid for best picture. Without a doubt, the strongest elements in the film are the cinematography and art direction. If you don’t leave the theatre certain this is one of the most visually beautiful films you’ve seen all year, you may want to make an appointment with your eye doctor. Oh, and for the guys out there… this one’s safe. It’s not a musical!

[Overall: 4.5 stars out of 5]

Melissa:

I’d like to start out by saying that I went to the wrong theater… I was supposed to see another film that night (There were five screenings at five different theaters that night). Once I realized what screening that I was at, I was really aggravated. I cannot tell you a single movie that I haven’t liked Nicole Kidman in, yet for some strange reason I am not quite fond of her.   I called Travis up anyway, since he was already in the theater and went on a magical journey to ‘Australia’.

Kidman was wonderful as Lady Sarah Ashley, a woman coming to Australia to bring her husband home because she suspects that he is having an affair. Once she gets there and realizes that her husband has been killed, she decides to take over his Cattle ranch and complete the work that was so important to him.

Along the way she meets, and falls in love with Drover (Hugh Jackman), a cattle driver who works for no man. He is an outcast from society and prefers to march to his own drum rather than fitting in. He’s rough, crude, and every bit the sexiest man alive Together, along with an aboriginal boy named Nulluh, who the old fashioned town people call “creamy” because he is of mixed race, they move their cattle across the Outback and start a family.

Kidman was outstanding as Lady Sarah Ashley, she was funny, strong, and overall a very well developed character. And how could Hugh Jackman not pull off the rugged, handsome type? The character that stole the show, though, was Brandon Walters as Nullah. It seems that this is his first movie, and you better watch out for him because he is going to be a star! His doe eyes and bright smile steal every sceen that he is in! During the movie, he uses song so that others can find him. The song that becomes his favorite is Somewhere Over The Rainbow from ‘The Wizard of Oz’.

I am so glad that they did a great job with ‘The Wizard of Oz’Â  tie-in. I grew up with an Oz room in my house. I can quote that movie all the way through… all because of my mothers tiny obsession. It is very hard to take a famous movie, or pop culture icon, and re-use it in an efficent way, or to reinterpret the meaning. The gave Oz a new edge, a new respect that was quite touching. I was very pleased with it.

I was also estatic that I did not look at the time once during the film. If you have read any of my reviews on long movies, you’ll know that I think most of them are too long. Not the case in ‘Australia’.  It was close to three hours long and it kept my interest the entire time. If that doesn’t say good movie… I don’t know what does…

Oh yeah… Hugh Jackman soaping up his body under the moonlight and then pouring water over his body… THAT SAYS GOOD MOVIE! (And that I want to lick his skin off!) Sorry… I had to!

[Overall: 4.5 out of 5 stars]

Jeremy:

About ten minutes into ‘Australia’, Baz Luhrmann’s grandiose tale set in 1930s and ’40s Australia, I had a nagging feeling. Â  I wasn’t enjoying the film as much as I had hoped. Â  In 2001, I fell in love with ‘Moulin Rouge’, loved its gentleness and its quirk equally. Â  However, there it was uneasy at the start of his newer film. Â  Then it hit me. Â  It had been years since I had seen a film by Lurhmann, a filmmaker who tells his stories his own, flamboyant way, who commands his actors to spout their dialogue as if preaching to the back row, and who, until now, has created personal-level love stories about people who must cross oceans of conflict.

Don’t let that last little statement confuse you. Â  ‘Australia’ is through and through a love story. Â  The two leads are two people who, on the surface, don’t appear as if they belong together. Â  However, through matters both large and small, they come to find true love within one another.

Nicole Kidman plays Lady Sarah Ashley, a British aristocrat who inherits a cattle ranch deep within the continent of Australia. Â  Hugh Jackman plays Drover. Â  Actually, he really has no name. Â  People just call him The Drover, because, well, that’s what he does. Â  He droves cattle. Â  As with most filmed relationships, the two are at each other throats in the early portion of the film. Â  Left with only a skeleton crew to help take care of her ranch, Sarah must travel along with Drover and a few others as they move the cattle towards the coastal city of Darwin. Â  It is on this journey that Sarah and Drover begin their powerful relationship.

That’s the first half of the film. Â  The second half revolves around the coming World War and the Japanese air raids on Darwin. Â  This transition between the first and second halves of the film is where the biggest problem with ‘Australia’ lies. Â  It’s one that is easily overlooked, but it’s there, nonetheless. Â  The changeover that covers a two-year span is not handled the smoothest of ways. Â  In fact, it’s handled about as smoothly and as precise as a butter knife. Â  The film really could have ended with the end of the first half, and picked up at the start of the second half for the sequel. Â  If people thought ‘The Dark Knight’ had a natural ending point that was completely overlooked, they’ll really be in store for something with ‘Australia’.

Having got that out, ‘Australia’ is both beautiful and epic. Â  It’s a sweeping reminder of, at first, the great westerns by John Ford and Howard Hawkes, and then of the great World War II films of the ’40s and ’50s. Â  Yet, the setting of the film is very much a part of how well the story works. Â  A major part of the story revolves around a “Stolen Generation”, native Aboriginal children who were removed from their families by the Australian government and church missions.

Doe-eyed, young actor, Brandon Walters plays Nullah, a half-Aborigine/half-white child whose mother dies tragically early on in the film. Â  Left with no one to care for him, Sarah takes it upon herself to tend to the boy. Â  This sets her as an outcast to the rest of the community. Â  The moments Kidman and Walters share together are heartbreaking in their sweetness. Â  She tells him a story, as he is trying to go to sleep, and she begins telling him the story of ‘The Wizard of Oz’. Â  It’s an incredible analogy to the events that are happening around them, and the scene is made all the more emotional from Walters’ performance.

Kidman and Jackman steam up the screen a time or two, and their chemistry works very well. Â  Jackman is great in his performance. Â  He must change his character’s emotions several times throughout the film, and he is just as charismatic when he is trying to act tough as he is when he is being comedic. Â  Kidman doesn’t manage as well as her counterpart, but she holds her own just fine. Â  There is a large segment near the end where she isn’t seen, and she isn’t really missed all that much.

David Wenham and Bryan Brown, who it is refreshing to see on the big screen again, each play a villain central to the plot, and both give resounding performances. Â  Wenham is more of the typical Hollywood villain, evil to his core and unflinching in the brutality he is capable of. Â  Brown is more the businessman-type villain, an Aussie Gordon Gecko of the cattle business. Â  Each one plays their part with a particular gusto that, it seems, only Lurhmann can dig out of his actors. Â  Remember John Leguizamo in ‘Romeo + Juliet’? Â  Remember Richard Roxburgh in ‘Moulin Rouge’? Â  However, Wenham and Brown are quickly swept aside, Brown much too soon, by the love story that blossoms.

‘Australia’ throws in every kind of emotion that you can think of in a film. Â  It is melodrama at its very highest form, an overly seasoned steak where even the fat that probably should have been trimmed tastes delicious. Â  It is the kind of film that only a filmmaker such as Lurhmann can pull off, and for no other reason than the fact that his previous films have shown us what he can do with it all. Â  It may be overblown. Â  It may be corny. Â  It may be every bit as frivolous and obvious as a Lifetime movie, but, if anyone can make something like that shine bright, it’s Luhrmann. Â  He proves that once again with ‘Australia’.

[Overall: 4.5 stars out of 5]