Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Travis Fimmel | ... | Ron | |
Teresa Palmer | ... | Dale | |
Stephen Moyer | ... | Andrew | |
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Phillip Holder | ... | Sgt Paul Widdens (as Philip Holder) |
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Margie McCrae | ... | Mrs. Wynott |
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Peter Davies | ... | Terry Gilmore |
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Taylor Owyns | ... | Angela - Antique Dealer (as Taylor Owynns) |
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Keith Robinson | ... | Mr. Middleton |
Nate Jones | ... | Tim | |
Alyssa McClelland | ... | Gabrielle | |
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Patrick Ward | ... | Andrew's father |
Joanne Hunt | ... | Constable Blainey (as Josy Lee Hunt) | |
Mike Willesee | ... | Sky News reader #1 | |
Vanessa Redgrave | ... | Sky News reader #2 | |
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Fabio Nardo | ... | Joey's dead body |
A small time criminal, Ron, has killed the boss of his girlfriend and they are escaping from the police. After killing a gas station attendant, Ron drives to an old manor in the middle of nowhere where Andrew, an agoraphobic, lives, in order to exchange their car. When he notes that Andrew is a wealthy man, Ron decides to get money from Andrew to travel to Thailand. Andrew notices that Dale resembles his fiancée, Gabrielle, who left him six months ago. He proposes that Dale dye her hair and go to the bank with two cheques of $20,000.00 pretending that she is Gabrielle. But things do not go according to plan. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Fabulous-looking movie. Cinematographer Simon Duggan obviously has a soft spot for the slow, back-lit dance of smoke, dust, dirt, and fog. What he does with airy nothing and a little light would grace any big-budget movie and does wonders to set the mood for this elegant character drama: the way the helicopter's searchlight filters through the trees at night, the trail of gravel left by a speeding vintage Mercedes, the morning fog lifting in slow motion, and endless curls of cigarette smoke gracefully set the pace for most scenes. Without making a big fuss about it, director David Denneen has created a small world that feels old school and fresh at the same time. But "Restraint" is not only an elegant, but also a sexy movie, mostly thanks to newcomer Teresa Palmer. She plays Dale, a quick-witted girl torn between her murderous lover and his handsome hostage, as well as between her low-life self and the assumed identity of the hostage's fiancée. Strange as it may sound, there's real class in the way she parades naked in front of a guy duct-taped to the bathtub faucet. The plot requires the occasional leap of faith and doesn't get any more plausible as it unfolds, but the suspense rarely subsides and the ending is a gem. Make sure you see this on a big screen.