Beautiful Kate

I look at movies first from the cinematography point of view, And that was what got me in the start, but as the movie went forward, as I saw acting, as I saw story telling I found out that I'm looking at a masterpiece. Somebody recommended Last Ride, I really like Last Ride but this movie is really in a different league. I didn't know who this movie director is(I do this willingly to don't have any predict) and after I finished it I looked at the director's name: Rachel Ward, yeah Rachel Ward's masterpiece. Bryan Brown's acting is the best, i didn't know Sophie Lowe but she is probably an actor(Isn't actress creepy?) to remember her name for the future. Also time dimensions is something touchable in this movie. I highly recommend it if you consider yourself an open mind person, because you should enjoy the kind of passion thats going to get injected to you.

I have mixed feelings about this one. It gives a real taste of the harshness of outback farm life in Australia, and it is certainly well directed and produced. The acting performances are convincing, though the character of Toni seems a little over the top, or even unnecessary to the story. Speaking of which; the story is the weakness here. What could have been a psychological drama tracing taboo desires and their roots is instead allowed to develop into a father vs son struggle that we've seen too many times before.

Overall: dark, fascinating, challenging, but let down in the end by a plot without the depth to really carry it over the line. Worth watching though.

Ned Kendall (Ben Mendelsohn) has come back to the family home with young wannabe actress Toni (Maeve Dermody) after 20 years of absence. He must come to terms with his dying father Bruce (Bryan Brown), and resolve the death of his twin sister Kate (Sophie Lowe). There he finds his sister Sally (Rachel Griffiths) dutifully taking care of their mean spirited father in their old crumbling farm that is soon to be lost to the bank. Much of this movie goes into flashback mode. It's a much more compelling story in the past due mostly to Sophie Lowe's enigmatic performance. The present story is much more depressed, and it struggles under the weight of buried anger. There is a mystery of the family's past. There are deaths not talked about. The present day needs some more energy.

Beautiful Kate is a slow paced drama, with not much action but an overwhelming and disturbing story that will keep you interested for the entire movie. It's the acting that makes it all worth the detour. Ben Mendelsohn, Sophie Lowe, Bryan Brown and Scott O'Donnell made this unusual story watchable even though the plot will disgust more than one. Good job from Rachel Ward portraying this most dysfunctional family.

There are many good things about this film. It unsentimentally depicts the harshness and bareness of outback farm life in Australia. It has some highly creditable performances from some top Aussie actors. The cinematography does justice to the setting.

The problem is the story. Instead of following through on a psychological exploration of some forbidden desires and their roots in this remote community, which is invited so longingly by the scenario, it contents itself with yet another portrayal of the struggle between a tyrannical old bastard of a father and his surviving son, whom he devalues. Both father and son conspire to turn their backs in denial of what could have been a revolutionary turn of events to match, gee, I don't know, Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf or The Homecoming.

A missed opportunity.