Australia(2008)- User Reviews

"Too many cooks in the kitchen..." I was wondering why the film (dvd) felt like 20 different writers had contributed 40 different stories. The end credits revealed a staggering 4 different writers who wrecked what, could have and would have, been a beautiful family love story crossing color lines.

I avoided Australia in theaters (and the years following) because of its epic length. Movie history has taught us that if you can't tell your story in 95 minutes... (exceptions given to Titanic and Lord of the Rings).

I was captivated by the biodiversity of Australia's geography beautifully captured on film and thought the movie was going to focus on the Aborigines, which would have been new for a Hollywood film. As we all know by now, the main story (whatever it was) quickly became snarled in 7 or 8 sub (or additional) main stories.

Initially, I thought the film was about the love story between Jackman and Kidman (two of my favorites), then I thought the movie was going to be about the cattle drive, then I thought the movie was going to be about race/class, then I thought the movie was going to be about the war.

So for those of you who don't have 3 hours to devote to combing through the tangles of this multi-layered miasma, I would say watch it in stages over 3 or 4 days, as I did.

What actually killed the film wasn't just the false looking overblown CGI,(the natural scenery was outstanding) or the switching between modern day drama and early 20th century movie humor, it was -DA DA DA- the failure of the director. No apparent effort was made to create a seamless tale on any one theme. It was clearly a case of toomuchbudget.

The saving grace is the diversity of the actors, who literally represent a microcosm of the real Australian population at that time and now. The Aboriginal actors bring a new and refreshing look to the spectrum of international actors.

Yes, Australia is a nation of variety, but movies about it shouldn't be.