Did you ever watch a movie where you started out thinking, “this is okay”—and maybe even wondering if perhaps you’d made a mistake in picking it—but then somewhere along the way you find yourself completely engrossed, and by the end it had become a completely different sort of movie?
For me, Australia (2008, with Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman) is one of those films.
Set in the wilds of Northern Australia on the eve of WWII, this film paints a canvas as broad as the Outback, interweaving the lives and stories of a headstrong English Lady, a rough no-nonsense cattle herder, and a half-white/half-aboriginal boy. From racing against the odds to save the ranch from the machinations of a power-hungry rival to facing the upheavals of war that threaten to take everything away, the film threads multiple stories into a single epic tale.
The movie opens with a tone that strikes you as almost farcical, but don’t let it fool you. When Lady Sarah realizes what is at stake (not only for herself, but for everyone on the ranch), the movie transforms seamlessly into something more dramatic and compelling. After a nail-biting sequence along the edge of a canyon (of which I won’t say anything more lest I spoil it), I was completely hooked.
If you like historical dramas, I would definitely recommend watching this film. My Netflix rating: 4 out of 5.
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