Australia (2008)

With Crocodile Dundee far in the cinematic rear-view mirror, the Australian Department of Tourism must have been delighted to hear about this film. After all, recent movies like Rogue and Wolf Creek offered visitors to “The Land Down Under” nothing more than the chance to be devoured by giant crocodiles or butchered by serial killers.

Set in the northern part of the country, Australia takes fictional characters and weaves their adventures around real-life events between 1939 and 1942–such as the Japanese bombing of Darwin. The resulting film provides romance, comedy, adventure, and more than a few uses of the word “creamy.”

Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) is a strong-willed and proper member of the English aristocracy. When her husband tarries for too long in their Australian property known as Faraway Downs, she becomes convinced that another woman is involved. So she does what any self-respecting movie heroine would do: she journeys to Australia to retrieve her hubby and sell off the god-forsaken land.

Upon arriving, she’s escorted to Faraway Downs by the rough-and-tumble Aussie hunk known only as Drover (Hugh Jackman, looking especially manly). As with any movie couple destined to get together, they take an immediate dislike to one another.

Lady Ashley receives bad news when she reaches her destination; her husband has just been murdered, and the likely culprit appears to be King George (David Gulpilil), an Aboriginal elder and magician. As luck would have it, beady-eyed Neil Fletcher (David Wenham) is nearby to offer her a fair price for the property on behalf of cattle baron Lesley “King” Carney (Bryan Brown).

At this point, Lady Ashley must choose between selling the property and returning to England, or continuing with the work her husband started. After a young Aboriginal boy named Nullah (Brandon Walters) tells her about some of Fletcher’s dirty dealings, she decides to stay and make the best of the situation.

But who will help her? Hmm…I wonder.

Directed by Baz Luhrmann, the film has an interesting visual style which will come as no surprise to fans of his previous films (Moulin Rouge!, Strictly Ballroom, and Romeo + Juliet). However, he does seem to have a habit of overusing slow-motion and computer-generated effects in the film. Given that Australia is a period piece, many of these techniques look out of place.

There’s also an odd sequence which occurs with about an hour of screen time remaining (the movie lasts 2 hours and 46 minutes). The film feels as though it’s about to conclude, but we’re then treated to a montage of events before the story resumes in an unexpected new direction: everything which comes afterwards feels a bit anticlimactic.

Many of the characters seem to be of the stock variety, and the villain of the piece could have especially benefited from some additional fleshing-out. Neil Fletcher is a walking stereotype of unchecked ambition, and his actions become increasingly ridiculous as the film winds on. By the climax, he might as well be wearing a tophat and twirling his moustache.

Despite the film’s flaws, Kidman and Jackman do exhibit a great deal of on-screen chemistry. The romance between Lady Ashley and Drover isn’t rushed, and female viewers should be especially pleased with the inevitable payoff.

Australia also does a nice job of depicting the setting as somewhere which magic can and does occur. From the opening sequence with a child’s narration, to the constant references to The Wizard of Oz, the entire movie has a fairy tale feel.

No doubt aimed at a female audience, Australia offers a sweeping romance and a shirtless Hugh Jackman. Ultimately, I suspect these two selling points will be more than enough to cancel out any complaints over characterization or directorial techniques.