kaprentice-44236
Joined Apr 2021
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kaprentice-44236's rating
The venerable Michael Caton plays a cab driver who embarks on a journey from his home in Broken Hill to Darwin in northern Australia, aiming to end his life (by legal means) rather than die slowly from cancer.
It is a road movie that presents a travelogue of outback locations and desert scenery. Having recently experienced outback travel myself, this road trip was quite captivating.
Mark Coles Smith plays extremely well as a young indigenous man with a reckless streak, who befriends our cab driver, Rex, while battling his own demons. All the performances are good in the understated way typical of Aussies living in the Outback. Arguably the standout performance (alongside Caton & Coles Smith) comes from Ningali Lawford who portrays Rex's tough, outspoken neighbour in Broken Hill with a twist of vulnerability and unrequited passion. While the film can't avoid some typical tropes of the Australian road movie genre, the dialogue and character portrayals were convincing enough that I enjoyed the journey. 3.5 stars out of 5.
It is a road movie that presents a travelogue of outback locations and desert scenery. Having recently experienced outback travel myself, this road trip was quite captivating.
Mark Coles Smith plays extremely well as a young indigenous man with a reckless streak, who befriends our cab driver, Rex, while battling his own demons. All the performances are good in the understated way typical of Aussies living in the Outback. Arguably the standout performance (alongside Caton & Coles Smith) comes from Ningali Lawford who portrays Rex's tough, outspoken neighbour in Broken Hill with a twist of vulnerability and unrequited passion. While the film can't avoid some typical tropes of the Australian road movie genre, the dialogue and character portrayals were convincing enough that I enjoyed the journey. 3.5 stars out of 5.
I did get frustrated by the apparent slow pace of the first three episodes. It seemed like the story was dawdling and meandering without obvious purpose.
However, from Ep.4 onwards, I started to become more engaged in the plot. Perhaps I was starting to get my memory of all the names into proper place - confusing at first!
The denouement in the last two episodes was generally quite gripping. In some ways more of a "what actually happened" than a straight out "whodunnit". Perhaps the most captivating part of the series was the location. A quaint seaside location with beaches, cliffs and caves is a great adjunct to the intrigues of plot development.
Ultimately I did feel rewarded for sticking it out to the climactic end - enough to forgive one or two plausibility weaknesses that are probably inevitable with this type of mystery drama.
If you're a fan of Broadchurch and the like, then you should try The Survivors and approach it with patience in the first half of the series.
However, from Ep.4 onwards, I started to become more engaged in the plot. Perhaps I was starting to get my memory of all the names into proper place - confusing at first!
The denouement in the last two episodes was generally quite gripping. In some ways more of a "what actually happened" than a straight out "whodunnit". Perhaps the most captivating part of the series was the location. A quaint seaside location with beaches, cliffs and caves is a great adjunct to the intrigues of plot development.
Ultimately I did feel rewarded for sticking it out to the climactic end - enough to forgive one or two plausibility weaknesses that are probably inevitable with this type of mystery drama.
If you're a fan of Broadchurch and the like, then you should try The Survivors and approach it with patience in the first half of the series.
Unlike other reviewers, I thought the acting was rather ordinary. Where's the fear? Shouldn't these men be sweating bullets as they engage an implacable enemy? Shells are falling all around them and no one even flinches!
Seems as if, portraying the "action" on a studio set, they were unable to conjure the sheer terror and chaos of battle. The post-battle laundry must've worked overtime too, because in no time at all they were back in dazzling whites! The lack of any perspective from the Graf Spee during the battle (except for the allied prisoners in the hold) also depletes the film of some authenticity about the reasons the ship had to make for port and the sheer jeopardy of being bombarded by three Allied navy ships. The intrigues of the onshore diplomatic wrangling were more interesting. One suspects that the American radio announcer may have been a ploy to carry the plot details to the audience and avoid complicated extra scenes. Where the movie succeeded was in arousing my curiosity about the actual battle, thus requiring me to seek further information from the usual sources. A middling score from me, but I'm glad I've seen it once.
Seems as if, portraying the "action" on a studio set, they were unable to conjure the sheer terror and chaos of battle. The post-battle laundry must've worked overtime too, because in no time at all they were back in dazzling whites! The lack of any perspective from the Graf Spee during the battle (except for the allied prisoners in the hold) also depletes the film of some authenticity about the reasons the ship had to make for port and the sheer jeopardy of being bombarded by three Allied navy ships. The intrigues of the onshore diplomatic wrangling were more interesting. One suspects that the American radio announcer may have been a ploy to carry the plot details to the audience and avoid complicated extra scenes. Where the movie succeeded was in arousing my curiosity about the actual battle, thus requiring me to seek further information from the usual sources. A middling score from me, but I'm glad I've seen it once.