Review: Australia (2008)

Calling all script editors: Baz Luhrmann is hiring.

Or at least he should be. I'm pretty confused what his latest film is really about.

Is it about cattle wars? Sure, there's about 90 minutes dedicated to the rivalry between Faraway Downs (owned and operated by Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, respectively) and King Carney (Bryan Brown and his lackey, David Wenham). It's fun, it's exciting, and it has a happy ending.

But, could it also be about the injustice towards aborigine children, which is an underlying theme throughout the entire 2 hours and 45 minutes. The young child Nullah (Brandon Walters, who carries the weight of the film), is half white, and is constantly alert to "coppers" who will take him away to cleansing camps--where they "breed the black out of him."

Aye, it's most certainly about that.

But it's also about the Japanese attacks in Darwin. This small segment is Lurhman's answer to Pearl Harbor. After the attack, though, there's still like 3 hours of film left. I'm like, what's going on? How many movies is this?

Annnd it's a love story. Very dull. Very sappy. Very fluffy. There's way too much going on in this film. Wasn't there some sort of controversy before about the ending? Well, my complaint is that it's too long. About an hour and a half too long.

The first 20 minutes, I was ready to love it. It's super stylish and funny and pretty. Very Baz Luhrmann. I was like "hey! why is this getting such poor reviews?" Then I find out. It continues on with surface, but no substance. Ugh... Somebody help this film. Like a SCRIPT EDITOR.

Oh look at that, I think this review may need an editor too.

P.S. When is David Wenham going to get his own movie? He's forever the secondary character, and even though he was the main baddie in this, I still wanted to marry him. Oh, I've loved him too long. I think he really needs to get his own film.

Grade: C?