"Australia" Film >>>>> Review


When one waits as long as Baz Luhrmann has to make a film, you tend to think that he's creating a masterpiece. After all, it's been seven long years since he directed his last film, 'Moulin Rouge!'. With his current muse (Nicole Kidman) back in his latest film, 'Australia', he was hoping to regain the same respect and applause he had received before, but unfortunately, his time away from the game hasn't sharpened his skills.

'Australia' is a big, overlong drama that needed more substance than glossy makeup and hokey acting.
Fellow Aussies Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman are certainly attractive and appealing enough to bring in an audience to this nearly three hour film, but too many cartoonish scenes saddles what could have a great epic and romantic film. The one saving grace in the film is newcomer Brandon Walters. The kid innocently shines throughout the film.

Starting out from England, aristocrat Lady Sarah Ashley (Kidman) sets out to Australia to find her husband, whom she assumes is having an affair, but then finds out he was murdered. With a huge family ranch named Faraway Downs untended, she looks to hire the best man to tend to the cattle to keep business afloat. When local businessman King Carney (Bryan Brown), who practices run the entire area, threatens to tear down her business with the help of his future son-in-law Neil Fletcher (David Wenham), who was fired by Ashley for running unfair 'labor' practices, ranch hand Drover (Jackman) comes to the rescue.