Lantana (2001)

The relationships of four couples unravel after the discovery of a young woman's body in Lantana bush in suburban Sydney.

Director:

Ray Lawrence

Writers:

Andrew Bovell (play), Andrew Bovell (screenplay)

Stars:

Anthony LaPaglia, Geoffrey Rush, Rachael Blake

36 wins & 22 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Anthony LaPaglia	...	Leon
Rachael Blake	...	Jane
Kerry Armstrong	...	Sonja
Manu Bennett	...	Steve (as Jon Bennett)
Melissa Martinez	...	Lisa
Owen McKenna	...	Old Man in Pyjamas
Nicholas Cooper	...	Sam
Marc Dwyer	...	Dylan
Puven Pather	...	Drug Dealer
Lionel Tozer	...	Police Officer
Glenn Suter	...	Police Officer
Leah Purcell	...	Claudia
Barbara Hershey	...	Valerie
Natasha Guthrie	...	Young Girl
James Cullington	...	Man at Book Launch

Storyline

Trust. A dead body in bracken. A cop cheats on his unhappy wife who, in secret, sees a psychiatrist whose own marriage is corroded by grief: she thinks her husband is having an affair with a gay patient of hers. The cop's lover, Jane, is recently separated, and her neighbors - a couple with children - include a muscular unemployed man. Late one night, the doctor skids off a back road, finds a call box, and tries in vain to reach her husband. She sees headlights and flags down the driver. Later that night, Jane sees her neighbor park his truck and throw something into the lantana in a vacant lot. It's a woman's shoe. Unraveling the mystery lays bare five couples.

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Plot Keywords:

adulterous wife | lust | scantily clad female | police officer | dance instructor | 

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Taglines:

It's tangled

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Lions Gate Films [United States]

Country:

Australia Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

8 March 2002 (USA)

Also Known As:

Лантана

Filming Locations:

Balmain, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

AUD 430,696 (Australia), 6 October 2001

Opening Weekend USA:

$66,701, 16 December 2001, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$4,460,426, 21 April 2002

Company Credits

Production Co:

MBP (Germany), Jan Chapman Productions, Australian Film Finance Corporation (AFFC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

121 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Glenn Robbins was originally considered for the lead role of Detective Leon Zat, but Anthony LaPaglia was eventually cast. Robbins was then cast as the role of Pete O'May

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Goofs

When Nik is at the police station explaining what happened the night he picked up Valerie, we see it as he is describing it - and as she gets into his truck, you can hear the door slam before it is even shut.

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Quotes

Leon Zat: [Leon has chest pains after having sex with Jane] I get this pain in my chest sometimes.
Jane O'May: You know, you really should have told me that you have a weak heart.
Leon Zat: I don't.
Jane O'May: It's because I don't want to have an affair with...
Leon Zat: For Christ's sake, I don't have a weak heart, all right? This is not an affair, it's a one-night stand that happened twice.

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Crazy Credits

Grateful acknowledgement of assistance to all our families

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Connections

References The Passion of Anna (1969)

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Soundtracks

Te Busco
(1993)
Written by Víctor Víctor
Courtesy of Flamboyan Publishing / Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Performed by Celia Cruz
Courtesy of Rmm Records & Video Corp.

User Reviews

Surprised Me

The movie surprised me not in that it was good, which it was but I was expecting that, but the dynamics of all the characters.

The intertwining plot was played out beautifully on screen and all the characters were portrayed brilliantly by all the actors. I didn't realize for the longest time that Anthony LaPahglia was NOT American and in fact an Aussie. Go him!

Love Geoffrey Rush anyway and he did a great job as the mysterious and suspected husband. The relationships portrayed in the film come across as so real and true that it's sometimes difficult to remember that none of the people are ACTUALLY married.

All in all, great film, great ensemble cast, great writing, directing, etc. View and be happy.