Dirt Music

I wasn't sure what to expect after the mixed reviews but as I love the book, decided to give it a go and really enjoyed the movie. Strengths of it are the good acting from a strong cast and amazing WA scenery. Great to see Chris Haywood on screen. Yeah it's not perfect but it successfully avoids so many of the usual film cliches and that made it easy to enjoy and appreciate.

Considering the last Tim Winton cinematic adaptation before Dirt Music was 2017's memorable and effective Breath, hopes were high that Gregor Jordan's talent-filled Western Australia set romantic drama would be more of the same, tapping into local audiences affections as well as those overseas who were seeking a new bout of Australian drama to fill their needs.

Sadly this was not to be.

Receiving a tepid at best response upon first showings way back in 2019, Jordan's star-studded local film is a complete and utter failure of a feature that is loosely strung together by a cold and emotionless "romance" between Kelly Macdonald's lonely Georgie, whose tiresome relationship with David Wenham's barely used fisherman Jim leads her to seek out an affair with Garret Hedlund's mysterious ex-muso Lu, a man whose past is holding him back from moving into the future.

Famous for his way with words, Winton's works have always been well-regarded in book circles and there's potential somewhere deep down in this tale of lost souls finding a way through thanks to each other but neither Jordan, whose proven before he can handle a good film with the likes of Two Hands and Buffalo Soldiers standing out in his C.V or the usually fantastic scribe Jack Thorne (a long term Shane Meadows collaborator and the man responsible for adapting hit TV series His Dark Materials) manage to ever get Dirt Music out of first gear as the film loses its audience early on to a procession of instances and occurrences that happen without an ounce of build up or ground work to lead into them.

For an Australian film, Dirt Music is clearly a more prestigious local production than most, the West Australia backdrops make for some stunning eye candy and deserve a better film to live in and the talent on screen is of the highest order but all main actors get very little too work with and potentially even feel miscast with the usually reliable Macdonald struggling to get much happening (including a very odd Oz accent, very different to her native Irish tongue), Wenham getting nothing of substance too do and the up and down Hedlund once more appearing to be lost in a feature even though you know there's a great actor hiding within him somewhere.

It makes one wonder why more local talent couldn't be used also. No doubt its easier to sell a film overseas with more recognisable international faces but surely there's actors capable of performing well in such a film, especially when no one was appearing to offer quality control to a film that has no soul, focus or imagination present within it.

Final Say -

The locations are nice. That's about as much as you could say in the way of good things about this sadly D.O.A Australian affair. Wasting source material from one of our countries most respected writers and the talents of three capable performers, Dirt Music strikes a dull note from the moment it starts until the moment it ends on a whimper.

1 sand dune out of 5

So disappointing, on so many levels. Thank goodness for the beautiful scenery & music. Going to see an adaptation of a Tim Winton book, with Gregor Jordan directing, with David Wenham & Aaron Pedersen in the cast, shot in W A and with Julia Stone contributing her beautiful voice and music, should have been an all round delightful experience. Sadly my expectations were way too high! Very surprised to be so let down by the direction and acting so I can only conclude that Jack Thorne struggled desperately with the adaptation from written word to the screen. Even David Wenham struggled, unusually. A high point of the casting was Aaron Pedersen, just a pity he didn't get more screen time. Hard to understand how the usually highly talented Gregor Jordan's direction was so lacking and again, can only conclude that the product he had to work with was so below standard.

The movie would have been half decent if they had cast actual Australians in the lead roles. Having to sit and listen to those TERRIBLE fake accents made me laugh in parts where I should have been empathising with the characters. It also made most of the dialogue stilted and cringeworthy. It's a real shame that Australian films never seem to have Australians in them... what's the point?

This is a strange little film- not without its merits, but another Aussie feature that relies too heavily on landscape and moodiness than on a coherent and compelling narrative. Based on a Tim Winton novel; the beauty and harshness of the West Australian coast is majestically depicted here, but the plot is muddied and muddled with flashbacks and endless super wide vistas and perturbed close ups to really hit the target.

Scottish Kelly Macdonald does a passable Australian accent and for me she is the best thing in this film. Always interesting, nay fascinating, Kelly imbues her character here with a mixture of yearning and sorrow, but the backstory for her feels shoehorned and lacks credulity. Likewise American Garret Hedlund is really fine here, but did we need both leads to be imported? A Hemsworth would have fit the bill just as well as the good looking drifter that Garrett embodies here. His flashbacks and perspectives are more front and centre, but I personally found them less successful and somewhat obtuse. Perhaps the prosaic elements of the novel made this a little unfilmable but experienced Director Gregor Jordan certainly gave it a shot. I just didn't really feel much watching this. Nice to look at; but a bit ho hum and certainly the music and the dirt were less than compelling. On the plus side, it is always a treat to see Aussie veteran Chris Haywood pop up.