The Curate's egg reference is a reference to an old joke in "Punch" magazine in which a Church of England Bishop, having breakfast with a very junior member of the church, a Curate, says "I am afraid that your breakfast egg is bad". The humble Curate replies, "Oh no my Lord, parts of it are excellent".
That is a bit like this movie.
I thought the settings and the filming were excellent as were the actors - I could not really find any fault with any of them. Neither would I take issue with the fact that the story is really, for the most part very slow paced - I am a fan of slow paced movies, after all in real life most things do run at a slow pace and if it works, I think this somehow can elevate the story above the normal fast paced, action packed "chewing gum for the eyes" type of film that seem to be the every day offerings of film makers. A crime drama that is slowing evolving can engage the viewer but must find ways of doing so throughout that do not detract from the story by introducing obvious irrelevancies or contrivances. Somehow this movie did not quite manage that.
There were other things in the story that also lacked something and perhaps this is because the movie was not strongly character driven - which could have been the glue which held it together. It is hard to feel strongly for Eric Bana's character for example - we know little about him except that he was implicated in the death of a teen friend 20 years before and now he is single and solitary. Perhaps more could have been made of how the first thing led to the other and his present state of mind. Much the same could be said for other characters who mostly flit through the movie without much depth or background to their character. Although it is not a bad technique, the constant flashbacks also demanded close concentration throughout the movie and even with concentration it was sometimes hard to work out what was going on and who was who.
Who were the characters who were so hostile to him and exactly why - OK we know in general terms why but exactly why were these people so aggressive? This was worked out as the movie evolved but they entered the movie with little introduction, making it less cogent and harder to follow till eventually it became apparent later. And why were they so openly hostile after 20 years - that is not exactly true to life. Aussies tend not to be so "in your face" hostile, and more commonly hold simmering grudges (if any) and tend not to confront people directly. I found this and other things to be somewhat too artificial - an obvious ploy to inject drama where there was none otherwise. Neither did I like the grand finale action scene which played out a bit dumb and not very believable. Though the absolute ending (trying not to give anything away here) was well done and emotionally affecting.
On a more positive side I thought the film was reasonably reminiscent of the first season of the "Mystery Road" miniseries on TV. Which is a good thing - that drama held my interest throughout the season and a strong engagement with the characters. (Though there was less engagement with characters in this movie). Another comparison can be made with the "Rain Shadow" miniseries of a few years ago. It also succeeded a little better than this movie in my view. Both were strongly character driven. So, all in all - the Curate's egg!
That is a bit like this movie.
I thought the settings and the filming were excellent as were the actors - I could not really find any fault with any of them. Neither would I take issue with the fact that the story is really, for the most part very slow paced - I am a fan of slow paced movies, after all in real life most things do run at a slow pace and if it works, I think this somehow can elevate the story above the normal fast paced, action packed "chewing gum for the eyes" type of film that seem to be the every day offerings of film makers. A crime drama that is slowing evolving can engage the viewer but must find ways of doing so throughout that do not detract from the story by introducing obvious irrelevancies or contrivances. Somehow this movie did not quite manage that.
There were other things in the story that also lacked something and perhaps this is because the movie was not strongly character driven - which could have been the glue which held it together. It is hard to feel strongly for Eric Bana's character for example - we know little about him except that he was implicated in the death of a teen friend 20 years before and now he is single and solitary. Perhaps more could have been made of how the first thing led to the other and his present state of mind. Much the same could be said for other characters who mostly flit through the movie without much depth or background to their character. Although it is not a bad technique, the constant flashbacks also demanded close concentration throughout the movie and even with concentration it was sometimes hard to work out what was going on and who was who.
Who were the characters who were so hostile to him and exactly why - OK we know in general terms why but exactly why were these people so aggressive? This was worked out as the movie evolved but they entered the movie with little introduction, making it less cogent and harder to follow till eventually it became apparent later. And why were they so openly hostile after 20 years - that is not exactly true to life. Aussies tend not to be so "in your face" hostile, and more commonly hold simmering grudges (if any) and tend not to confront people directly. I found this and other things to be somewhat too artificial - an obvious ploy to inject drama where there was none otherwise. Neither did I like the grand finale action scene which played out a bit dumb and not very believable. Though the absolute ending (trying not to give anything away here) was well done and emotionally affecting.
On a more positive side I thought the film was reasonably reminiscent of the first season of the "Mystery Road" miniseries on TV. Which is a good thing - that drama held my interest throughout the season and a strong engagement with the characters. (Though there was less engagement with characters in this movie). Another comparison can be made with the "Rain Shadow" miniseries of a few years ago. It also succeeded a little better than this movie in my view. Both were strongly character driven. So, all in all - the Curate's egg!
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