Strangerland

After their free spirited, too mature for her age and nubile daughter Lily (a walking Lolita cliché) takes off with her brother into the desert the already unstable marriage falls prey to resurfacing old resentment. Nobody in the small sleepy outback town knows where she has disappeared off too yet many seem to have had some involvement. As the movie progresses we see the mother (Kidman) fall further in desperation induced mental frailty while dad (Fiennes) holds her responsible for their daughters 'adventurous nature' so to speak. Although it starts off well with what seems to be a wholesome plot, either a mystery or a psychological thriller, it lingers and resumes in exploring the relationship between mainly the parents and the towns people. Some over-dramatization doesn't do the plot any good and by the end it leaves you hanging. It lacks a firm direction and goes on tangents instead, many scenic shots, dramatic outburst and at last an unsatisfactory ending. It is the indecisiveness that irritates. When presenting a strong leading plot line it needs to be followed through, at least partly. Fiennes and Kidmans' performances are impeccable despite the failing script.

"Are we bad parents? Did I do something wrong?" Catherine (Kidman) and Matthew (Fiennes) are a normal, boring couple living in Australia. When Catherine wakes up one morning to find her two children are missing her world is rocked. They feel the police are not doing enough and take it upon themselves to look for them. When past history is revealed no one can be trusted. This is a very difficult movie to watch. The acting by Kidman is Oscar worthy and everyone else does hold their own against her. On the other hand the subject is gut wrenching and the movie is a little slow moving. It does keep you watching and interested though, both to see the end and for Kidman's performance. This is a good movie but nothing you can watch over and over and also one you really have to be in the mood for. Worth seeing for her acting if for no other reason. Overall, slow moving and hard to watch, but not a bad movie with one of the best performances by Kidman I have ever seen. I give this a B-.

This film tells the story of a family that moves to a small town to escape from a dark past. Unfortunately their children goes missing, and in the search, it seems everyone has something to hide.

"Strangerland" depicts a mother who is in much distraught over the disappearance of her children. Nicole Kidman is very convincing as a very distressed mother, I empathise with her and feel so sorry for her pain and loss. The father, on the other hand, has a different approach to the circumstances, creating a stark contrast. The hunt for the missing children is long and less than fruitful, engaging me and making me hope for something good would happen soon. I think it's a heavy film with a heartbreaking and depressing story.

Is this a drawn out domestic drama or an under-written mystery? It doesn't matter. Just glad I don't have to see these people any more. They were far too long on the screen. Haven't seen a hospital without doctors or nurses before! Admired actors for giving it their all.

The best things about this movie are the cinematography, the acting (despite the lame script) and the beautiful and haunting outback locales. The story is so strung out...so stretched. The whole thing could have been told in 30 minutes. As it is the story is padded out with long and luxurious takes of the outback, the stereotypical outback town (of which there are very few these days) and the side story of Kidman's character losing it big time.

I am thoroughly sick and tired of Australian films these days (yep-I'm Australian). They tell off-beat boring stories or focus far too much on the outback that the rest of the world must think we all live in the desert with koalas and kangaroos for pets, speak with an appalling twang and drink copious amounts of beer whilst swatting away huge flies.

Here's the reality... Most Australians live in large cities or suburbs not unlike LA (I know LA so I can compare our cities quite well). Few of our films deal with our cosmopolitan and multi-racial population. Aussie films either show whitebread Aussie families or Aboriginal families in distress. No mention or filming of the other ethnic groups here.

Now whilst trying to tell tales about your culture is a laudable thing, to make a film truly internationally interesting it needs to sell to a wider audience otherwise our film industry will always be relegated to the quirky sidelines while Hollywood conquers all.