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Mullet
Eddie returns to his home town on the south coast of New South Wales. Having left for the city without explanation a few years previously, he tries to pick up the pieces of his life and fit back in to the lives of those he left, including his ex-girlfriend Tully and brother Pete.
Release : | 2001 |
Rating : | 5.9 |
Studio : | Porchlight Films, Screen Australia, Screen NSW, |
Crew : | Director of Photography, Director, |
Cast : | Ben Mendelsohn Susie Porter Andrew S. Gilbert Belinda McClory Tony Barry |
Genre : | Drama Comedy |
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Reviews
Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.
Sorry, this movie sucks
Absolutely brilliant
When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.
Thats what this movie should have been called. Mullet is an a$$hole. He comes back to his hometown and treats everyone like dirt. There is no explanation for his arrogance, there is only some vague sense that he was some sort of local football hero in his youth. Despite that somehow the cute girl behind the bar magically sees past all that (this is never explained) and for no reason falls in love with him and goes with him to the city. I mean it. There is no reason. He really is an a hole, he isn't good looking, he treats everyone like dirt, and somehow he manages to get the hottest girl in town to fall for him. Yeah right.The main character/actor is the boring uninteresting center of what really is a flat movie that goes no where. Mullet has no character arc, does he learn from his mistakes ? no. He just leaves town. Ah .. great plot. Testimony to the fact that good screen writing starts with an interesting central hero that goes on some sort of emotional transition.The actor who played his brother who married Mullet's ex was great and the guy who played his Aboriginal friend was good too in the face of Mullet's racism and all round malevolence. You really want to beat Mullet up he's that annoying. The plot, of which there is not much to it, is basically the Jack Kerouac thing about "you can never go home". Once you leave you are forever changed and going back to your past is counter productive. Thats what I took from it, pity I explained it better here than the movie did dramatically in its very dull 90 odd minute running time. Epic fail. For a much better take on the going back to a small town thing watch "gross point blank" instead.
The trouble with this film is that it is empty. Ben Medehlson is usually really good but in this little Aussie drama he really struggles to find his character. It's a pity because it had a few things going for it but didn't deliver.
Good movie but not the sort of movie that stands up to a second viewing.I saw this movie when it was first released theatrically in Australia and this is one of those movies that comes across much better on the big screen than it does on the small screen. This is not one that is worth owning on DVD/Video, but definitely worth renting if purely for its worth as an accurate depiction of lower middle class rural australia, and the typical dysfunctions that occur in Australian family life.
Anyone that doesn't like this film should get out of the city limits and experience a bit of Australian life. We're not all a bunch of coffee sipping w***ers. If you spend a bit of time in a country town you will see what the true heart of this country is and know how much our country owes these stalwarts of the Australian persona. This film deals with the real issue that is facing country towns across Australia, that they're dieing. The young grow up, move to the city and never look back. I did. Local football is the glue that holds the community together. When you leave that's what you miss the most.The language in this film is brilliant. It drips from the actor's tongues as good as any Shakespeare. The story is populated with well-rounded characters varying degrees of flaws and strengths. The use of music in this film is of special note. Characters absently sing "juke box classics" as they go about their daily business. This is best seen in the scene where Kay (our agent in the story) sings a Divinyls classic while she cleans the bar.Ben Mendelson gives a signature performance as Mullet, but it's the peripheral characters that make this film work. Andrew S. Gilbert, Susie Porter, Tony Barry and Belinda McClory all are in top form as Mullets friends and family waiting for him to throw another spanner in the works of their lives.The only flaw in this film is some problems with the pacing of the script. The characters are given an ample playing field, however the script lacks those three hits that would make it a truly great character study. At the end it all feels a little loose, suggesting maybe it could have benefited from more development. That said this film shows a definite step forward in David Caesar's work and Australian film in general. Which is more an argument for better funding of Australian films WITH Australian stories, than any lack of skill on the part of the part of those involved. Not happy with the direction of Australian film? Start banging the keyboard and put out something better. Take a drive out of the city limits, sit in the local pub and see how faithful to the Australian persona this film is. Film is the mirror we hold up to ourselves and this film is as faithful and relevant as other recent efforts such as Mallboy, Head On, Love & Other Catastrophes and La Spagnola. We are a diverse culture that requires a diverse range of character studies.