Top End Wedding

I saw the premiere of this file at Sundance, and it's a great film. It follows a lot of the traditional Rom-Com formula, but does it very well-the right mix of funny & touching, but never getting sappy. It uses a "road trip" plot device, that allows for some spectacular cinematography of Austraila's Northern Territories and islands. The music in the film is outstanding! (I hope the soundtrack gets released...) A really fun, well-done movie, and if it gets picked up for distribution in the US I think will perform well here. This was easily one of my favorite films so far at Sundance this year!

The story may be cliche but the cultural setting is, thanks to the indifference of dominant white culture in Australia, new. It's also lovingly authentic; Tiwi culture is lovingly embraced and explored. Plus I love that the Tiwi Sistagirls had a role in this film!

Miranda Tapsell leads us on a merry dance through all of the Northern Territory's most famous and scenic sights, from Nitmilik Gorge to Kakadu to the Tiwi Islands. There are credits to the Northern Territory Tourist Bureau, and they more than got their money's worth.

The story line is a bit predictable, but it is told with enthusiastic good nature and has a couple of less obvious twists that overall it hung together well enough that I didn't mind. It is the Miranda show and she inhabits the character so easily I wonder whether aspects of it might be slightly autobiographical. Gwilym Lee as fiancé Ned is a pleasant, slightly uncomfortable fish out of water in what to him must be such a strange environment. The extras, Aboriginal people in various places and particularly on the Tiwi Islands, give it a goodly dollop of authenticity and provides a reflective backdrop for many of the story's aspects.

In some ways, it's a bit like a visual equivalent of a musical - a not terribly plausible or important story that ties together not songs but images and impressions of Australia's Top End and the people that live there. If you've never been, this might just inspire you to go.

This movie put a smile on my face. The characters are just the greatest bunch of lovable people (and a dog) brought together in a movie. The story, despite some familiar scenarios, was fresh and interesting. Some beautiful cinematography of the Katherine gorge and Tiwi Islands and elsewhere up north added some more interest to the movie and should have people adding the north to their "bucket lists". Some truly funny scenes. I thought Kerry Fox was particularly funny in her role as Miranda Tapsell's lawyer boss, she seemed to be having the time of her life playing the part. It could have been pure caricature, but she gave it some depth. The camera just loves Miranda Tapsell and Ursula Yovich, who plays her mum, and the actors who played the bridesmaids were similarly gorgeous. Huw Higginson was good as the dad, and he managed to nail an aussie accent, which not many pull off. The movie reminded me of that REM/B52s song "shiny happy people". Yes, there is some pathos, but overall it was just shiny happy people in a beautiful shiny happy landscape (yes, I know you can get eaten by crocs and die of heatstroke, but in the movie it was all just gorgeous) and I came out of the film having a bit of the shiny happy rubbed off onto me. I agree with the other reviewer about the soundtrack. I also liked it a lot.

'Top End Wedding' is from the director of 'The Sapphires' and also stars Tapsell, this time as Lauren, an up-&-coming lawyer from Adelaide. She gets engaged to Ned (Lee), which sets in motion a whirlwind trip to Darwin to try and pull together a wedding in 10 days before she's required back at work, thanks to her demanding boss Ms Hampton (Fox).

Back in Darwin, we meet Lauren's Dad, Trevor (Higginson) and the twist that her Mum, Daphne (Yovich), has left to find her roots. This "mystery" forces Lauren and Ned on a roadtrip to find her, and allows us to see the spectacular scenery in Kakadu and Katherine, as well as eventually, the Tiwi Islands. There's plenty of funny moments along the way and interesting characters.

As well as the great settings, there's also some emotional reunions for Lauren and Daphne with their people and country on the Tiwi Islands - it's all handled really well and is very touching. It's fantastic to see Aboriginal actors and Australian settings on film - I wish there was more. Overall, a lovely film in terms of story, music, characters and settings.