Mystery Road

If you like slow burning thrillers set in one horse towns, then Ivan Sen's Mystery Road will steadily wash over you like an Australian episode of Morse. With added guns. However, you may be mis-directed mind by the opening scene that sees a trucker discover the body of a young girl in the outback of a remote Aussie town. What with the murky lighting, the eerie music and a great joke concerning the name of the local creek (I won't spoil it), you'd think you were about to watch a cousin of Wolf Creek. All the same, it's a tongue in cheek start for a film from Sen which moves at a glacial pace at times, but is realistic in the sense of how slow and difficult a police investigation can be. Especially when the main detective in question (played by Aaron Pedersen) is returning to his own town after some time away and finds the locals closing ranks and closing doors. This really is Sen's picture, as not only does he direct from one of his own scripts, he also edits and scores. Thrown in the fact he was also the cinematographer as well, you really can say that the final production is one man's vision. Sometimes such a hands on approach doesn't always work, but despite the tempo not being for everyone, this is a stunning film for all you cineastes out there. It's certainly an antipodean effort with it's portrayal of laid back Down Under culture (the casual purchase of firearms like it's a packet of crisps) played out by its Aussie cast which is a mixture of the well known (Weaving, Kwanten) and a collection of other mainstays who's faces you'll recognise if you follow cinema or TV from that part of the world. Somethings do get lost in the mix though. There are plenty of (unintentional) unanswered plot questions come the credits and the race relations faction of the screenplay feels a little forced. However for an independent film maker the movie is a triumph and the final sniper shoot out is the most mano-a-mano stand off you'll see in cinema for quite some time. Rating: 8/10.

The Fifth Estate / Philomena

Time for another double review, this time with the somewhat spurious link that both films concern journalists. Starting with The Fifth Estate, Bill Condon's film tells the story of Julian Assange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and his creation of his WikiLeaks news leaking website along with his spokesperson Daniel Domscheit-Berg (Daniel Bruhl). Despite messing around with some Twilight related business in the past few years, Bill Condon knows his stuff when it comes to dramas. However, he struggles here as the film isn't sure if it wants to be a full blown drama or one with an element of thriller thrown in. As a result its a disappointing production. Though based on a couple of recently released books, the problem with films such as this is that its hard to take anything at face value. Predictably Assange has said it's a load of lies, but it's fairly safe to say his word is hardly reliable. What actual audience there is out there for this anyway I can't think, though if you dip in you can enjoy some smooth cinematography from Tobias Schliessler and a performance from Cumberbatch which may seem a bit odd ("The wurld needs to knau"), but according to people who know Assange it's a great portrayal in respect of his awkward mannerisms and characteristics. Also starring Moritz Bleibtreu's forehead. Much more solid is Stephen Frears' latest, Philomena. Based on the book The Lost Child of Philomena Lee by Martin Sixsmith, Frears' dramedy tells the true life story of Sixsmith (Steve Coogan) who despite looking down his nose at human interest stories, picks up the tale of Philomena Lee (Judi Dench), who has confided in her daughter that 50 years earlier she had given birth to a son in a convent who was subsequently adopted. Emotionally this is a tough storyline, but Coogan and Jeff Pope's screenplay adds a light touch to the precedings, especially in the relationship between the world weary Sixsmith and emotionally repressed Lee. The less you know where the story goes the better and when when further revelations do occur Frears smartly reveals them with little fanfare, though they still provide a gut punch each time. This is Frears best film for quite a while, though it is quite hard to pigeon hole (classic Frears). You could even say its one of the more bizarre road movies you'll ever see. On the downside, though Dench is superb, her character isn't fully believable as she switches between ignorance and sharp intellect from scene to scene and Catholics might be upset by the one sided beating the religion takes throughout. Overall though this is both moving and funny, underpinned with great performances from the two leads. Estate Rating: 5/10. Philomena Rating: 8/10.