Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Nicole Kidman | ... | Catherine | |
Joseph Fiennes | ... | Matthew | |
Hugo Weaving | ... | Rae | |
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Lisa Flanagan | ... | Coreen |
Meyne Wyatt | ... | Burtie | |
Maddison Brown | ... | Lily | |
Nicholas Hamilton | ... | Tom | |
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Jim Russell | ... | Alan Robertson |
Sean Keenan | ... | Steve Robertson | |
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Bronwyn Penrith | ... | Rose |
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Trangi J. Speedy-Coe | ... | Jarrah |
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Morgan Junor-Larwood | ... | Slug (as Morgan Junor Larwood) |
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Chris Pattinson | ... | Deputy Pete |
Reef Ireland | ... | Guy in State Park | |
Martin Dingle Wall | ... | Neil McPherson |
Newcomers to the remote Australian desert town of Nathgari, Catherine and Matthew Parker's lives are flung into crisis when they discover their two teenage kids, Tommy and Lily, have mysteriously disappeared just before a massive dust storm hits. With Nathgari eerily smothered in red dust and darkness, the townsfolk join the search led by local cop, David Rae. It soon becomes apparent that something terrible may have happened to Tommy and Lily. Suspicions run riot, rumours spread and public opinion turns savagely against the Parkers. With temperatures rising and the chances of survival plummeting with each passing day, Catherine and Matthew find themselves pushed to the brink as they struggle to survive the mystery of their children's fate. Written by Anonymous
The best things about this movie are the cinematography, the acting (despite the lame script) and the beautiful and haunting outback locales. The story is so strung out...so stretched. The whole thing could have been told in 30 minutes. As it is the story is padded out with long and luxurious takes of the outback, the stereotypical outback town (of which there are very few these days) and the side story of Kidman's character losing it big time.
I am thoroughly sick and tired of Australian films these days (yep-I'm Australian). They tell off-beat boring stories or focus far too much on the outback that the rest of the world must think we all live in the desert with koalas and kangaroos for pets, speak with an appalling twang and drink copious amounts of beer whilst swatting away huge flies.
Here's the reality... Most Australians live in large cities or suburbs not unlike LA (I know LA so I can compare our cities quite well). Few of our films deal with our cosmopolitan and multi-racial population. Aussie films either show whitebread Aussie families or Aboriginal families in distress. No mention or filming of the other ethnic groups here.
Now whilst trying to tell tales about your culture is a laudable thing, to make a film truly internationally interesting it needs to sell to a wider audience otherwise our film industry will always be relegated to the quirky sidelines while Hollywood conquers all.