19 November 2008

"Australia" Is "No Masterpiece".....Critics Say After Premiere

A Bloomberg report by Ed Johnson and Iain Wilson says that Australia, 'the sweeping epic starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, received mixed reviews after its world premiere, with one critic saying the movie is "no masterpiece'' and another labeling it "overlong.''

Directed by Baz Luhrmann, the $130 million price tag makes it the most expensive film ever made in Australia and it carries the hopes of the nation's tourism and film industries.

While U.S. talk show host Oprah Winfrey said the movie "swept me off my feet,'' there was an air of disappointment in Australia, where locals are renowned for cutting their home-grown celebrities down to size - a phenomenon known as the "tall poppy syndrome.''

The movie is "not the masterpiece we hoped it might be,'' reviewer David Stratton wrote in the Australian newspaper.

Writing for the Age, Jim Schembri said the film was "fine, and never boring, but, boy, is it overlong.''

"At a mammoth 165 minutes it feels too much like a work- in-progress,'' he wrote. "There is a lot of narrative flab and longueurs in the first two hours and the film often has the pace of a steamroller with engine trouble.''

The romance, set during World War II, features Kidman as an English aristocrat who leaves her homeland to follow her husband to Australia's north.

Upon finding him dead and their property in disrepair, she undertakes a cattle drive across the country, falling in love with drover Jackman along the way.

Expectations of the movie were high, with local media billing it as a love letter to the country's landscape and history.

The Daily Telegraph newspaper wasn't disappointed, saying Luhrmann treats the "Australian outback as if it were a monumental theater." "It doesn't let him down.''

The director, whose other movies include "Moulin Rouge'' and "Romeo + Juliet,'' tried to hose down expectations. "Not everyone's going to love it, not everyone's going to see it,'' the Australian cited Luhrmann as saying.

"All we can do is do our best and invite everyone to the party.''

In the Sydney, Australia's largest city and the film's first shooting location -- organizers blocked off a section of the main thoroughfare in front of the Greater Union George Street Cinemas for the red-carpet premiere last night.

Big band music from the period played on loudspeakers in the background, two large-screen monitors were set up on either side of the entrance and 2-meter high fencing adorned with banners and logos of the movie's partners - including Qantas Airways Ltd - ensconced the festivities.

The movie is scheduled for release in the US and Australia on Nov 26 by News Corp's 20th Century Fox.

A Report by The Mole