Column:

Baz Luhrmann's 'Australia' bloated with confusing plot

By Joey Vergara

Published Dec. 4, 2008

"Australia" begins in medias res with an unnecessarily roundabout introduction. Nullah, the Aboriginal boy who sweeps the hearts of cold, distant Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) and tough guy The Drover (Hugh Jackman), narrates the story as "wild" and "exotic" images of the Australian Outback and his witchdoctor grandfather mix with cartoonish graphics and maps of the world.

From any of its previews, "Australia" seems more like a straightforward war romance than it really is for the majority of the film. That genre eventually develops — if only an hour and half into the film. But what begins is more Disney wackiness than "Gone with the Wind" epic. It's these bizarre shifts in tone and style that topple an embarrassingly formulaic movie. Where "Australia" isn't predictable, it strays into weird territory.

At its start, the story is a little hard to piece together, but after her husband's unexpected death, Lady Ashley takes over her husband's cattle business and must somehow beat out competitor and evil mastermind King Carney (what's in a name?).

The Drover serves as a rough Australian antithesis to Kidman's prissy English noblewoman. The two mismatches come together (of course) and are helped by magical Aborigines (they're in the Outback, so why not?). The heroes of "Australia" must either be the luckiest people of their time or they must be suffering from director Baz Luhrmann's most contrived plotting to date.

The story has enough action to distract from its stilted storytelling and predictability, but only for so long. It's nothing new in any respect, drawing from the good, the bad and the hideous of previous national epics.

A little more than halfway through "Australia," the plot comes to what would otherwise provide a natural ending but opens up again for all new adventures and flashy shots. World War II's shadow looms over the first half of the film, but it isn't until here that it comes into focus. In this latched-on act two, characters are either casually dropped from the story or transformed with little notice into rich beef barons and a squabbling couple.

And though it's refreshing to see two leads actually from Australia star in a movie about the country, it's vaguely odd to find these stars in such a trite and borderline degrading film. Even worse is the abundance of green screen shots throughout the film. It's a crime to resort to this device for cheap thrills with such a beautiful country as a setting.

Luhrmann's track record (i.e. "Moulin Rouge!" and "Romeo + Juliet") serves well enough as a forewarning of what's to come in "Australia." At a running time close to three hours, the film is bloated with Luhrmann's convoluted plotting, which tries to sew together widely separate and inconsistent storylines. The result is a congestion that leaves the audience struggling to make sense of characters' motivations and relationships.

Although a lot can be said about its diverse drawbacks, "Australia" remains entertaining, if only on a very shallow level. It's not for nothing that Luhrmann brings together all the great parts of the classic Westerns and war films. The differences are all of the Australian clichés and lack of originality.