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Finally got to see Lantana today. I liked it a lot, well worth seeking out. Not a great movie, but well done, and beautifully acted.
It's a multi-character drama where their lives (and a death) eventually intersect. Director Ray Lawrence wisely elects not to try and be Altman in any way, instead letting his story unfold slowly in its own way and keeping to a fairly formal, understated style free of gimmicky camera moves and optical effects. While not quite as powerful or as fully-formed, I think it makes a good companion piece with In the Bedroom.
The plotting, which is a bit convoluted by the end to make the stories all come together, isn't all that important compared to the themes of loss, love and most of all trust, all brought to life perfectly by the cast.
The ensemble, led by Anthony LaPaglia, Kerry Armstrong, Barbara Hershey, Geoffrey Rush, and Rachel Blake, is the real selling point. The screen-time is divided pretty equally among each character and storyline, but I think LaPaglia and Armstrong, who play husband and wife in a marriage going through a bit of a crisis, are standouts for me. With the exception of Rush, who has been quite busy the past few years since winning his Oscar for Shine, this strong group of actors don't get many (or any, in some cases) high-profile Hollywood opportunities to strut their stuff.
I guess it should come as no surprise then that this is an Australian-produced movie shot Down Under. Hershey is the only Yank. The rest of the cast is Aussie-born. Armstrong really impressed me, and I'll definitely look for some of her earlier work. To paraphrase one of her lines of dialogue from the movie, I really like the lines around her eyes too. She's definitely my "type", as well as a good actress in this layered role. Rush broke through to the mainstream with Shine, so I suppose most people knew he was Australian - even if he does tend to play mostly U.K.ers these days. But it will be a surprise to some that LaPaglia, best known for playing Italian types by way of Brooklyn in such American movies as Betsy's Wedding, One Good Cop, 29th Street, Innocent Blood, Empire Records and The Summer of Sam, was born and raised in Australia. He's really very good in Lantana, building to a well-earned crescendo in performance, making me wonder why Hollywood doesn't use him much.
There wasn't really anything new in this movie, and though it eventaully uses a genre frame of a murder mystery of sorts, that isn't really an apt description, and anyone going for a thriller will be sadly misinformed. But if you go in to see it for an absorbing and understated drama about adult relationships and the emotional lives of six or eight characters, it's a rewarding movie.
Grade: B
It's a multi-character drama where their lives (and a death) eventually intersect. Director Ray Lawrence wisely elects not to try and be Altman in any way, instead letting his story unfold slowly in its own way and keeping to a fairly formal, understated style free of gimmicky camera moves and optical effects. While not quite as powerful or as fully-formed, I think it makes a good companion piece with In the Bedroom.
The plotting, which is a bit convoluted by the end to make the stories all come together, isn't all that important compared to the themes of loss, love and most of all trust, all brought to life perfectly by the cast.
The ensemble, led by Anthony LaPaglia, Kerry Armstrong, Barbara Hershey, Geoffrey Rush, and Rachel Blake, is the real selling point. The screen-time is divided pretty equally among each character and storyline, but I think LaPaglia and Armstrong, who play husband and wife in a marriage going through a bit of a crisis, are standouts for me. With the exception of Rush, who has been quite busy the past few years since winning his Oscar for Shine, this strong group of actors don't get many (or any, in some cases) high-profile Hollywood opportunities to strut their stuff.
I guess it should come as no surprise then that this is an Australian-produced movie shot Down Under. Hershey is the only Yank. The rest of the cast is Aussie-born. Armstrong really impressed me, and I'll definitely look for some of her earlier work. To paraphrase one of her lines of dialogue from the movie, I really like the lines around her eyes too. She's definitely my "type", as well as a good actress in this layered role. Rush broke through to the mainstream with Shine, so I suppose most people knew he was Australian - even if he does tend to play mostly U.K.ers these days. But it will be a surprise to some that LaPaglia, best known for playing Italian types by way of Brooklyn in such American movies as Betsy's Wedding, One Good Cop, 29th Street, Innocent Blood, Empire Records and The Summer of Sam, was born and raised in Australia. He's really very good in Lantana, building to a well-earned crescendo in performance, making me wonder why Hollywood doesn't use him much.
There wasn't really anything new in this movie, and though it eventaully uses a genre frame of a murder mystery of sorts, that isn't really an apt description, and anyone going for a thriller will be sadly misinformed. But if you go in to see it for an absorbing and understated drama about adult relationships and the emotional lives of six or eight characters, it's a rewarding movie.
Grade: B
__________________
"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra
"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra
