two and a half stars

Reviewed by Daniel E. Jennis

Baz Luhrmann’s “Australia” is one weird hybrid of a film. Part war romance, part western comedy, this movie is beautifully filmed but severely marred by rocky pacing and out-of-place melodrama.

Nicole Kidman stars as Lady Sarah Ashley, an aristocrat from England who travels to Australia in order to manage a cattle ranch owned by her husband. Hugh Jackman plays a rough and tumble cattle driver known simply as the Drover who assists Ashley in managing the ranch. When a rival cattle firm, led by the brutal Neil Fletcher (David Wenham), attempts to siphon off bulls from her stock, the Drover and the English dame must team up in order to drive her cattle into the city so that they can be sold.

More than just a story about cattle driving, this movie also explores the abduction of aborigine children by white police officers and profiteers. It also examines the effects of the Australian involvement in World War Two, with a focus on the Japanese bombing of Darwin.

The biggest problem with this film is that the plot is literally all over the place. The initial tone of the film is very lighthearted, and you feel like you are watching a fairly standard action flick. But once the romance between the two leads heats up, and war begins to break out, the film gets very heavy-handed, and the melodramatic moments overshadow the stylized action sequences.

The film’s greatest redeeming quality is certainly the stunning cinematography. Australia is a beautiful country, and as the camera slowly pans over the high plains, arid desert, and majestic city landscape, it is easy to get a sense of the wonder and enchantment that the land invokes.

The cinematography also bolsters the film’s mysterious and almost magical portrayal of aboriginal cultures. One particularly impressive scene features a young aboriginal child calling upon the spirits of his ancestors in order to halt a massive cattle stampede at the very edge of a steep cliff face. Scene like these do interrupt the flow of the story, but they also offer striking visuals that stay in the minds of audiences long after the film has ended.

Ultimately, the film’s 165 minute running time is highly excessive, especially considering the way in which Luhrmann tries to cram so much into his epic. There are about four or five sequences that could be considered endings, and there is little emotional consistency in the film’s tone and characters. “Australia” has its moments, but is highly disappointing considering the overall level of ambition underlying its production.