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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 15 December 2020

I can still remember attending the Brisbane International Film Festival with a group of friends in July 2000 and seeing Eric Bana’s incredible performance as notorious criminal Mark Read in Andrew Dominik’s Chopper.  It was if his career had changed in a heartbeat.  Prior to that, everyone knew him as a goofy comedian from the popular sketch comedy series Full Frontal.  Post Chopper, he was landing roles in major Hollywood projects including Black Hawk Down, Hulk, Troy, Munich, Star Trek and Hanna.

Curiously, Bana has appeared in just one locally made film over the past two decades – Romulus, My Father which won the Australian Film Industry Award for best picture back in 2007.  I’m not sure what kept him away for so long but, after a lengthy absence, he’s teamed up with acclaimed writer-director Robert Connolly (who he first met making Romulus, My Father) in making The Dry.  It’s adapted from Jane Harper’s award winning book first published in 2016.

Pulling off a good whodunit can be a difficult exercise.  You don’t want to make the conclusion too predictable but at the same time, you need something that makes sense and fits with what’s been revealed in the lead up.  Connolly finds the perfect middle ground.  He uses distinctive actors and simple, ordinary conversations to flesh out the many characters during the opening act (each has a motive) and this provides a sturdy platform from which to reveal their secrets in the later stages.

As an added bonus, there are two mysteries to solve.  Aaron Falk (Bana) is a celebrated Australian Federal Police officer who has returned to Kiewarra, the small, drought-stricken country town where he grew up.  It’s the first time he’s visited in roughly 20 years and the circumstances are not pleasant.  He originally came for a funeral but he’s now found himself providing off-the-record assistance to the local police officer (O’Donnell) as they investigate a murder-suicide perpetrated by a close childhood friend.

Aaron isn’t welcomed with open arms and that’s because he, as a teenager, was suspected as being involved with the death of a female classmate who drowned in the town’s river.  No one was ever charged but questions remain unanswered and the trauma still lingers.  This subplot is told by way of effective, quick-fire flashbacks with younger actors stepping into the shoes of their current day counterparts.

Connolly deserves praise for skilfully weaving the subplots together but Eric Bana warrants just as much attention for his leading performance.  It’s hard to imagine someone more different from “Chopper” Read.  He portrays Aaron as a placid, softly spoken man who avoids confrontation.  There are scenes where other characters try to pick a fight (such as a moment on the hotel stairs) but Aaron knows the best means of defusing a tense situation is to keep his mouth shut.

Loaded with a glut of memorable supporting performances – everyone from Eddie Baroo as the hotel bartender to Miranda Tapsell as the local officer’s shrewd wife – The Dry is a wonderful addition to the canon of Australian cinema.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 30 November 2020

At one end, you’ve got long-time Bee Gees fans who bought every album and could sing every song by heart.  At the other end, you’ll have youngsters who have never heard of Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb.  It doesn’t matter where you sit along that spectrum.  There’s something for everyone in this stellar documentary, The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart (sans question mark).

Directed by legendary producer Frank Marshall (Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Sixth Sense), it’s an impressive feat to cover this much material inside of two hours.  We begin with their upbringing here in Brisbane, we culminate with their final works, and in between we explore the brilliant music that saw them inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (amongst many other notable accolades).

So… what made them a success?  There are current day interviews with producers and band members who take us inside their unorthodox creative process.  There were times when they didn’t even write lyrics until the day of the formal recording session!  There are also interviews with the likes of Noel Gallagher (Oasis) and Nick Jonas (The Jonas Brothers) who can relate to the experience of siblings being part of the same band.  It comes with both pros and cons.

Many artists fade into obscurity after their 15 minutes of fame but The Bee Gees were a group who kept reinventing themselves.  One of the more interesting parts of the documentary delves into the creation of their Grammy Award winning album Saturday Night Fever in 1977 and the subsequent backlash when disco music fell out of favour several years later.  They were victims of their own success – an unavoidable dilemma that Coldplay’s Chris Martin offers insight on.

Marshall spent roughly two years pulling the film together and it includes never-before-seen archival footage.  An obvious challenge is the fact that all but one of the Gibb brothers has passed away.  To help ensure their voices are heard, the film uses old interviews from Maurice and Robin to help give equal time to their respective viewpoints.  As Barry eloquently explains during the opening scene - everyone will have different memories depending on who you ask.

Likely to kick start new interest in their music, The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart is fascinating from start to finish.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 14 December 2020

Australian Margot Robbie has come a long, long way.  She was still a teenager when she landed a recurring role on the forever-running soapie Neighbours and it earned her a Logie nomination for most popular new female talent (losing to Packed to the Rafters’ Jessica Marais).  Several years later, she came to the world’s attention in Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street and her career has continued on an upward trajectory ever since.  She’s now a 30-year-old with two Oscar nominations under her belt (I, Tonya and Bombshell) who can also carry an action blockbuster (Birds of Prey).  Not bad for a kid from Dalby, Queensland.

If you think that’s impressive, consider the fact Robbie co-founded a production company, LuckyChap Entertainment, in 2014.  Its goal is to tell women’s stories on screen while utilising female talent off screen.  Robbie starred in several of the company’s projects (I, Tonya and Birds of Prey) to help build its early presence but it has since expanded with productions such as Promising Young Woman starring Carey Mulligan (in Australian cinemas from next month) and the television series Dollface starring Kat Dennings.

Dreamland is another LuckyChap production where Robbie serves as both star and producer.  It’s the first feature film of writer Nicolaas Zwart and the second go-round for young director Miles Joris-Peyrafitte who won a jury prize at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival for his debut, As You Are.  Given the shoot took place in late 2017, it’s been a prolonged wait time for those looking to see the finished product (COVID-19 hasn’t helped).

That said, I’m not convinced there’s a wide audience that’ll be lining up to see this.  It’s a slow, formulaic drama that never gets out of first gear.  Set in Texas during the midst of the Great Depression, the story is centred on an unemployed young man named Eugene (Cole) who is meandering through life with little purpose.  He still lives on the farm with his mum (Condon), deputy sheriff step-father (Fimmel) and younger sister (Camp).

His simple world is upended when he comes across a beautiful woman, Allison (Robbie), hiding in the family’s rundown barn.  She has a bleeding bullet hole in her upper leg and Eugene immediately recognises her face from a much publicised “wanted poster”.  Local authorities are offering a sizeable $10,000 reward (the equivalent of about $200,000 today) given her suspected involved in a botched bank robbery where a 9-year-old girl was killed.

There’s a saying that good looks will take you further in life and yes, that’s the case here.  If Allison was some old, bearded, haggard man, Eugene would have turned him into the cops and taken the reward money.  Instead, Allison turns on the charm and successfully plays the “damsel in distress” card.  It’s not long before she has Eugene running increasingly dangerous errands (such as stealing a car) and looking for a way to slip over the border into Mexico.

That’s pretty much it.  She’s using him as a means of escape while he thinks he’s falling in love and doing good deeds.  These two characters have limited arcs and there’s not much else to offer in terms of action (we don’t even see the original robbery) or surprises.  Without giving too much away, I was also unconvinced by some of the decisions made by Allison in the final act – why would she want to spend more time with such a bland, boring guy?

Margot Robbie (the actor) is the best thing in this but I’m not sure it’s a project that Margot Robbie (the producer) should have green lit in the first place.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 20 November 2020

They’ve lost relevance today (for a myriad of reasons) but there was once a time when beauty pageants were incredibly popular.  Between 1966 and 1976, the Miss World competition was one of the top 5 highest rated TV programs for the year in the United Kingdom.  Pitched as “family entertainment”, households would gather around their televisions to watch contestants parade in their swimwear and reveal their measurements (bust, waist, hips).  The judges would then weigh in with their choice for the most beautiful unmarried woman in the world.

Misbehaviour takes place right in the middle of that pageant “boom”.  The 1970 edition, hosted by iconic American comedian Bob Hope, was historical for two significant reasons.  Firstly, the contestant from Grenada, Jennifer Hosten, became the first black woman to wear the crown in the event’s 20 year history.  Secondly, a group of Women’s Liberation activists disrupted the show and caused the live television feed to be disrupted.

Rather than focus on a single perspective, writers Gaby Chiappe (Their Finest) and Rebecca Frayn (The Lady) tackle the subject from multiple viewpoints.  The forceful Jo Robinson (Buckley) and a semi-reluctant Sally Alexander (Knightley) lead the group of activists.  The list of beauty pageant contestants including the apprehensive Pearl Jansen (Harrison) from South Africa and the aforementioned Jennifer Hosten (Mbatha-Raw).  Time is also spent following Bob Hope (Kinnear), his wife (Manville), and the long-time competition organiser, Eric Morley (Ifans).

Kudos to the writers, along with director Philippa Lowthorpe (The Crown), in crafting a movie with nuance and “greyness”.  It’d be easy to simplify Keira Knightley’s character and turn her into a feminist hero who never puts a foot wrong and takes down all the villainous men.  Instead, we learn that whilst her efforts should be applauded, there were disagreements behind the scenes.  The film’s most powerful scene occurs late in the film where she has a heart-to-heart with winner Jennifer Hosten and realises there are more issues at play.

That gets to the essence of what Misbehaviour is about.  On one hand, it’s an important history lesson to remind us of the limited life choices offered to women and people of colour in the 1960s.  On the other hand, it offers us a chance to reflect today, think about what more needs to be done, and remember that there isn’t a quick, easy fix to certain issues.  Featuring a slew of strong performances, it’s a film worth your time.

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Written by Matthew Toomey

Created: 05 December 2020

I’ve noted this before but it’s often difficult to depict mental illness in visual form.  You’re dealing with something in one’s head as opposed to that which can be physically seen.  The leading character in Words on Bathroom Walls, Adam (Plummer), is battling schizophrenia and the choice of director Thor Freudenthal (Diary of a Wimpy Kid) is to illustrate this using narration and fictitious characters.

It’s the clunkiest element of the film and that’s partly because it’s overused.  You’ll tire (or become annoyed with) the three “voices in his head” as they rely on the same routine and the same jokes from scene-to-scene.  I also wasn’t sold on the black mist and shaky camera work which arrives when Adam is about to experience a serious attack.

Despite these limitations, Words of Bathroom Walls succeeds because of the casting and its emotions.  A few early scenes are over-written (such as a moment where Adam chats to a girl alongside a pier) but the more we get to know these characters, the more we empathise.  Having suppressed his troubled mindset for so long, Adam finally opens up and has powerful heart-to-hearts with his worried mother (a sublime performance from Molly Parker), his newfound girlfriend (Russell), and a happy-go-lucky priest (Garcia).

Skilfully played by Charlie Plummer (All the Money in the World), Adam is an easy protagonist to like.  He’s in his final year of high school and trying to get good enough grades so he can follow his dream and be accepted into a leading culinary school.  Unfortunately, his schizophrenia has made it difficult to study (he’s easily distracted) and forge friendships.  With the help of his mum, Adam has seemingly tried every drug on the market but his body is “treatment resistant”.

The film is largely focused on Adam’s interactions with his mother, stepfather (Goggins) and girlfriend.  He’s concealing his true self from all of them – partly because he wants to be treated like a “normal” person and partly because he’s worried about how they’ll react if they know his inner most thoughts.  It’s also the reason why his standard defence mechanism is to push each of them away (despite needing them) when times get tough.

It’s great to see a teen-oriented drama shine the spotlight on mental illness to help destigmatize the condition.  There’s a memorable scene where Adam compares himself to a cancer-suffering child in the Make-a-Wish program.  It asks us to open our minds and think about how we perceive those with similar troubles in our own lives.  An affecting film.