It's been some time since I last saw an Oz film. Now I know why. A lot of films, especially art house, character pieces can take some time to get up a head of steam. For me Lantana never developed enough steam to iron a hankie, let alone keep me engaged for approx 2 hours. It chose to allow it's characters to internalise ad nauseam. Like LaPaglia's character I began to feel numb midway through this flick, making furtive glances at my watch to see how much time had elapsed.
To be honest I felt no empathy for his character. A burnt out cop having a mid life crisis. Please!!! Spare me the clichés. Maybe if there had been some progression in the character but no. We discover he feels numb with no explanation as to why. His character appears to undergo no journey as such, however miraculously at the end of the film it's happy families. Give me a break!!
And what an original device, using the psychologist. Gee, do you reckon the writer might have seen an episode of two of the Sopranos? Then there's a scene where LaPaglia hugs a fellow jogger who wails cathartically. Wanky new age dross at it's finest. And what's the story when Hershey yells out at the character of Pete in the street for no apparent reason? No doubt she has some deep and meaningful motivation for such action like the rest of the characters.
I admit I have a low tolerance for films like this that take themselves so damn seriously. There's one scene where LaPaglia tells 'a friend' repeatedly that she shouldn't have picked up a piece of evidence and it's very funny. Pity the whole piece wasn't lightened up more. I actually thought the crime plot as it was was quite good. It's a pity that it was treated as an after thought near the end of the film. It's not a crime to introduce a plot earlier in a film you know.
I thought Latana was visually impressive and I actually enjoyed most of the performances, in spite of their generally angst ridden states. Personally I'd nominate Rachel Blake as the pick of the performers. Hopefully she can pop up again in another movie soon.
To be honest I felt no empathy for his character. A burnt out cop having a mid life crisis. Please!!! Spare me the clichés. Maybe if there had been some progression in the character but no. We discover he feels numb with no explanation as to why. His character appears to undergo no journey as such, however miraculously at the end of the film it's happy families. Give me a break!!
And what an original device, using the psychologist. Gee, do you reckon the writer might have seen an episode of two of the Sopranos? Then there's a scene where LaPaglia hugs a fellow jogger who wails cathartically. Wanky new age dross at it's finest. And what's the story when Hershey yells out at the character of Pete in the street for no apparent reason? No doubt she has some deep and meaningful motivation for such action like the rest of the characters.
I admit I have a low tolerance for films like this that take themselves so damn seriously. There's one scene where LaPaglia tells 'a friend' repeatedly that she shouldn't have picked up a piece of evidence and it's very funny. Pity the whole piece wasn't lightened up more. I actually thought the crime plot as it was was quite good. It's a pity that it was treated as an after thought near the end of the film. It's not a crime to introduce a plot earlier in a film you know.
I thought Latana was visually impressive and I actually enjoyed most of the performances, in spite of their generally angst ridden states. Personally I'd nominate Rachel Blake as the pick of the performers. Hopefully she can pop up again in another movie soon.