Set in the 1880's, an Australian frontier criminal is offered a deal to hunt and kill his exiled older brother for the police in exchange for the life of his younger brother.
Starring Guy Pearce, Ray Winstone, Emily Watson, and John Hurt
This film was pretty solid. I had been eagerly awaiting its arrival in my area theater as I had seen it acquire rave reviews elsewhere. Guy Pearce and Ray Winstone do battle on the backdrop of the Australian outback. Guy Pearce, with maybe not as much screen time as you might have expected for the main character, displays a wonderful sense of quiet and brooding murderousness. Ray Winstone also turns in a strong performance as the conflicted army captain.
This story could have very easily been set in the American west with Native Americans replacing the Aborigines, but I thought the choice to make the film Australian was a nice artistic choice. I was surprised at the prowess of the director considering he has never done a feature film before. The film was beautifully framed and shot throughout most of the duration, and although the colorful sunsets of the outback provide a naturally breathtaking backdrop, some credit must be given to the director as well. Ultimately, the uber-violence that was widely spoken of in many of the reviews seemed rather normal to me, although it may have shocked some of senior citizens at my matinee showing.
One of the more original aspects of this film was its use of fairly modern music. Interestingly enough, the writer of the film also composed most of the soundtrack, and he and the director seemed to have not opted to stay strictly in line with the time period of the story. This is a chance they took and I felt as though it paid off.
Despite its many good points, the film didn't quite seem to contain that spark of a great film. I feel as though the blame for this most likely should be placed on the fact that the film did not fully center around its two main characters, the rivals, Pearce and Winstone as the hunter and the hunted. Although Emily Watson was good, I felt her prolonged presence in the film felt out of place amongst the violent and dirty backdrop, and her excess of screen time somewhat hampered the film's overall quality.
Either way, this was still a solid effort and one of the better films I've seen so far this year. I'm looking forward to seeing more of the director's work as well the seldom-seen Pearce and Winstone.
