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Gorgeous sunsets but the heart's not in it
The coming-of-age film is a national specialty. I used to think it had something to do with Australia's view of itself - that ours was a Peter Pan country, wary of growing up and playing with the rest of the adults.
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I couldn't quite escape the feeling that I was watching a story devised to serve the decor, rather than the other way around. It struck me most forcefully in the scenes between Philip Quast as Carl, the local policeman, and Wendy Hughes as Elizabeth, his wife. Carl is the town's own "tomcat" - an energetic womaniser with little regard for covering his tracks. Yet the solemnly snobbish Elizabeth has somehow failed for decades to guess what's going on. It's a thankless role for Hughes, who whines her way through it.
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It's a pleasant film about good people, which is part of its problem, for Sciberras can't figure out how to handle those who aren't so good, like the odious Carl and the long-suffering Elizabeth.
© The Sydney Morning Herald
