The Square (2008)

A man's life begins to unravel when his mistress brings him a bag of cash.

Director:

Nash Edgerton

Writers:

Joel Edgerton, Matthew Dabner

Stars:

David Roberts, Claire van der Boom, Joel Edgerton

2 wins & 15 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
David Roberts	...	Raymond Yale
Claire van der Boom	...	Carla Smith
Anthony Hayes	...	Greg 'Smithy' Smith
Damon Herriman	...	Eddie
Stephen Weston	...	Charlie
Lisa Bailey	...	Wendy
Lucy Bell	...	Martha Yale
Kieran Darcy-Smith	...	Barney
Bill Hunter	...	Gil Hubbard
Peter Phelps	...	Jake
Brendan Donoghue	...	Leonard Long
Luke Doolan	...	Smithy's Mate
Greg Hatton	...	Smithy's Mate
Joel Edgerton	...	Billy
Hanna Mangan Lawrence	...	Lily (as Hannah Mangan-Lawrence)

Storyline

Lovers Ray and Carla plan to burn down her house at Christmas, to run off with her husband's drug money. Ray has a side scheme going too, taking kickbacks on the love hotel project whose construction he's managing. The suburban Aussie marrieds live across a river from each other, the much older, domesticated Ray in an upper middle-class neighborhood, Carla on the wrong side of the water. The cheaters will lure their families to the same Christmas picnic celebration, to provide alibis while still being able to sneak off and chat about the arson. Carla's tow-truck owner hubby, Smithy, is a fearsome tough to cross, so will the philanderers' holiday gifts come through, or explode in their lying faces?

---

Plot Keywords:

male wears underwear | man wrapped in a towel | money | christmas | mistress | 

---

Taglines:

Some things can't be buried.

---

Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence and language

Did You Know?

Trivia

Nash Edgerton's first feature film.

---

Quotes

Gil Hubbard: One man points his dick the wrong direction, and here we are...

---

Connections

Featured in Maltin on Movies: The American (2010)

---

Soundtracks

Unloved Letters
Written by Ben Lee
Performed by Jessica Chapnik Kahn (as Jessica Chapnik)
Produced by Ben Lee and Nic Johns
Courtesy of Inertia/New West Records

User Reviews

Coen Brothers Safe

As one of those who saw the premiere of this film at the Sydney Film Festival, I can assure you if I was on the "edgerton" of my seat, it was in disbelief as implausibility piled upon implausibility until the film collapsed under their weight.

The film started well, and for a while I was happy to go along with the well-worn Noir formula of the small crime that goes wrong, and all attempts to cover it up only make things worse for the illicit lovers, and the crimes get bigger and bigger. But they also get stupider and stupider, until you just feel your intelligence is being insulted. If, as bilingizard seems to be suggesting, black humour of the order of the Coen Brothers was being attempted, then I suggest some wit (other than that involving the fate of the dogs) should have been attempted. Nor do I think David Roberts was an acceptable lead. The character was dour and unpleasant from the beginning (making it hard to care what happened to him and his paramour) and the performance added no light or shade or leavenings of humanity.

I agree it looks good, and the direction is stylish. But the plot is not just full of holes, but sinkholes that suddenly open up under the feet of the characters, and the audience.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 July 2008 (Australia)

Also Known As:

The Square

Filming Locations:

Caringbah, New South Wales, Australia

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$17,092, 11 April 2010

Gross USA:

$406,116

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$728,903

Company Credits

Production Co:

Australian Film Finance Corporation (AFFC), New South Wales Film & Television Office, Film Depot Pty. Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1