Writer/director David Caesar was rather ambitious with this gangster movie set in 1969 Australia.  You can tell that he tried very hard to make a great picture.  He used unusual camera angels and movement, worked with a stable of good actors, included an interesting soundtrack, and had an promising script.  Unfortunately it just didn't work.

Darcy (Sam Worthington) is an Australian who has just returned form a tour of duty in Vietnam.  His biggest ambition is to be his own boss and open his own fast food restaurant.  To get the money for this, he takes a job working for his uncle Barry (Bryan Brown) who is a gangster.  Barry has an on going scheme where his crew skims most of the money taken in by slot machines that he places in various pubs and gambling halls.  Barry is having trouble with a local rival, but things start to really worry him when two mobsters from America, Tony (John Goodman) and Sal (Felix Williamson,) show up and want to buy into his lucrative scam.  If he doesn't take the American's offer, they might go to his competition, but if he does, he'll be giving up his livelihood.

The setup offers a lot of potential, but it just doesn't pay off.  The plot twists are not as surprising as they should be, and the ending can be seen from quite a ways off.  There really isn't any suspense built and no tension in the script.  The story isn't bad, just not good.

Caesar tried a lot with the look of this film.  He made a lot of fast cuts, used different lenses to distort the image, and even had the camera pass through a gunshot wound that went all the way through a wild boar.  He often would turn the camera over as someone was walking by, and used a lot of superimposition.  Regrettably, none of these tricks add any meaning to the movie.  They are just there because they look nice.  That would be fine, except these unusual camera movements distract from the story.  It's much harder to suspend your disbelief when the director reminds you every five minutes that you are just watching a movie.

Aside for the fancy camera tricks, the direction is adequate for the most part.  There is one car chase scene is confusing and disjointed, and not that exciting.  But the rest of the film shows that Caesar is technically competent and is able to tell a story in a straightforward effective manner.  The scene at the start of the film where Barry and his men go to confront a bar owner who is not using his machines was very well executed.

The soundtrack is another matter.   As with much of the camera work, the music distracts form the story.  Just before the opening credits roll, a cover of AC/DC's Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap plays.  This song does not belong in a movie set in 1969.  Not only had the song not been written at that time (it was released in 1981,) but that type of hard rock wasn't even around.  That is just one instance of several where the music, rather than enhancing the film, distracts from it.

David Caesar put a good amount of comedy in his script.  This doesn't work either.  Maybe if I was Australian, I would find more of his humor funny, but it just fell flat to me.  There is a running gag about the fact that know one in Australia knows what pizza is.  Everyone wears a lot of ugly late 60's fashions, and the walls are decorated with bright patterned wallpaper.  Mildly amusing at best, just not funny.

On the bright side, the acting was very good, and the dialog realistic.  John Goodman steals the show as Tony, a mobster who has been in the game to long, but doesn't know how to stop playing.  Sam Neill does an excellent job in his small role of a cop on the take.  Most of the other actors were hampered by the script, which didn't really give their characters much depth.
 

Audio:

The English 5.1 track was clear and bright.  Very good use was made of the rear speakers throughout the movie.  One scene that takes place in a club was particularly effective with the rear and front soundstages meshing seamlessly, giving the effect that you were right in the middle of the bar.  The dialog was clear, though the Australian accents were had to understand at times.  Unfortunately, subtitles are not available.

There is also a 2.0 digital mix that was adequate, but did not have the impact of the 5.1 mix.  A Spanish language DD 2.0 audio track is also included.

Video:

This disc presents the film in both anamorphically enhanced widescreen and pan and scan.  For this review the widescreen version was viewed, but he pan and scan was of similar quality.  Overall, the picture quality was very good.  The image was clear, and the colors were bright and accurate.  Details could be seen in the shadows and the interior scenes were not too dark.  The print was free of any major blemishes.  A good job was done with the transfer.

The Extras:

This DVD's extras consist only of a trailer to the movie. As mentioned above, there are no subtitles on the disc.  It's disappointing that this is a bare bones disc, since the R2 release was packed with extras.  Region two was treated to three(!) audio commentaries, four featurettes, a still gallery and talent profiles.  Since there were all available it would have been easy to include them on the R1 release, and it's too bad that they were not.

Final Thoughts:

Overall there is nothing really objectionable about this movie, but there is nothing commendable either.  The DVD has fine audio and visuals, even if the extras are skimpy.  The movie has a quality cast who do a decent job, but the story is just average.  It's worth a rental.