It took me a while to get to it but I finely tried to make time (154 minutes) for "Australia" Baz Luhrmann's attempt at creating a National Cinema for his homeland. From the length of the credits it looks like he was able to hire everyone in Australia to work on the film. I hesitated seeing it due to the initial critical response. But I held out hope for the film. I've liked all three of Luhrmann's first three films. "Strictly Ballroom" was a fine debut film, I very much admired his "Romeo + Juliet's" slick take on Shakespeare with excellent casting. I fell in love with "Moulin Rouge." I'm embarrassed at how many times I've watched and although I already enjoyed Nicole Kidman for a while I only needed to see she was in a film than I had to see it now.
But something more than the bad reviews of "Australia" made me nervous. I hoped maybe all of the negative reviews were like or were those who trashed "R + J" and "Moulin Rouge." But Nicole"s recent track record has been less than stellar. Between "Dead Calm" and "Flirting" on to "Dogville" and "Birth" she'd been in over a dozen really fine films and in many she was the reason the films were excellent. But then her participation in films like "Stepford Wives" and "Bewitched" and "The Interpreter" led me to realize I didn't have to see all of her films. But still, Nicole and Baz teaming up again. What the hell! It was worth the 154 minutes. Well, Nicole is not the reason the film is a failure and to me it is a failure. The best I can say for Baz is, three out of four's not bad. What was he thinking? How did he so lose his way? But lose it he did, way out there in the Outback.
I didn't need the full 154 minutes to realize "Australia" contained every western, cattle drive though Aboriginal Territory cliché ever dreamed up in scene after scene after scene. Finally I had to stop watching. I cheated to the end to see if the image that kept coming to me of Lady Sarah, Nullah, Drover and King George all together living happily ever after in the end came true. I won't reveal whether it did here. I hope Baz can find his way back out of the Outback and that Nicole can find her way back in to consistently better films.
But something more than the bad reviews of "Australia" made me nervous. I hoped maybe all of the negative reviews were like or were those who trashed "R + J" and "Moulin Rouge." But Nicole"s recent track record has been less than stellar. Between "Dead Calm" and "Flirting" on to "Dogville" and "Birth" she'd been in over a dozen really fine films and in many she was the reason the films were excellent. But then her participation in films like "Stepford Wives" and "Bewitched" and "The Interpreter" led me to realize I didn't have to see all of her films. But still, Nicole and Baz teaming up again. What the hell! It was worth the 154 minutes. Well, Nicole is not the reason the film is a failure and to me it is a failure. The best I can say for Baz is, three out of four's not bad. What was he thinking? How did he so lose his way? But lose it he did, way out there in the Outback.
I didn't need the full 154 minutes to realize "Australia" contained every western, cattle drive though Aboriginal Territory cliché ever dreamed up in scene after scene after scene. Finally I had to stop watching. I cheated to the end to see if the image that kept coming to me of Lady Sarah, Nullah, Drover and King George all together living happily ever after in the end came true. I won't reveal whether it did here. I hope Baz can find his way back out of the Outback and that Nicole can find her way back in to consistently better films.