TxMike
"The Outback is the vast, remote, arid area of Australia. The term 'the outback' is generally used to refer to locations that are comparatively more remote than those areas named 'the bush' which, colloquially, can refer to any lands outside the main urban areas. "Toni Collett is Sandy Edwards, an Australian geologist doing work for a large iron ore mining company owned by a wealthy Japanese industrial concern. The son of the owner is coming for a visit, they aren't quite sure why, but Sandy is asked to be his guide, to help him see what he wants to see.The Japanese son is Gotaro Tsunashima as Hiromitsu Tachibana, or 'Hiro' for short. Even though in real life he and Collett are just 6 months apart in age, he looks like he could be in his early 20s and she in her mid-30s. At first there is nothing but friction between them, he seems to think she is simply his driver, she sees him as a rude Japanese. For Hiro this seems to be the equivalent of a "walkabout". He is married with children, he mentions that he is under a lot of pressure, presumably to take over the company from his successful father. He seems to just want to see Australia, its vastness, its uniqueness, before he fully settles into his Japanese fate. At one point he muses, in the deserted outback, that Japan has so many people and little land, but here there is so much land and very few people. It is a revelation to him.Then comes the mutual bonding experience. He gets her to drive into an area they probably should not have, no cell phone signal and the 4-wheel drive SUV gets stuck deep, up to the axles, in red sandy soil. The winch burns out before pulling the vehicle out. It gets cold at night, they have to build fires to stay warm. But Hiro has an idea, maybe he can dig a path and line it with many small sticks, to get enough traction. It works, they are both joyous, and their personal barriers soften.Many will not like this movie because it is mostly slow, a character study, in vast and often featureless outback. But the actors are superb, and it mainly becomes the story of how Sandy can handle new love and grief. SPOILERS: At one point in their outback exploring, Sandy says to Hiro, "I'll introduce you to an Australian expression, 'last one in is a rotten egg'", as she pulls off her top and dives into a shallow secluded pool. Then we see Hiro go to a different spot, near some small trees, and as he dives in she shouts 'No, no, no, no, no, no' in quick sequence. He doesn't surface right away, and when he eventually does he is dead. She panics, she tries to resuscitate him. She finally has to drag his body to the SUV, get him to a town, finds an undertaker. She had fallen in love with this man from a strange country, they had slept together at least a couple of times, it seemed the feeling was mutual. In grief, the story ends as she is in the airport terminal building, watching the Quantas plane take off with Hiro's body in a casket aboard the plane.
dmarcusb
Despite its incredulously high rating, the movie is very slow, has a pitifully undeveloped plot, and is further diminished by weak acting throughout. The time spent watching it really doesn't do anything but disappoint the viewer, leaving you wondering how you're supposed to make sense of what you've seen. The plot is so fragmented and ill constructed that the continuity of the story is never established. All you're left with is what you can salvage from the cinematography, which reveals the harsh beauty of the Australian desert. Having watched thousands of movies, I'd have to tell those interested in this one to find another one to watch or just go bathe the dog.
feczo
Weak plot, no character development, seriously dumb dialogs. The male main character is a shame for all men and as previously mentioned its a humiliation of the Japanese: he shows weakness so many times it is very annoying, (spoiler alert) even in the "sex scene" I felt he is being raped by the female character. I did not even get how these two developed any chemistry over extremely silly conversations, the intellectual level was like listening to 4 year old not adults. The only value in the film is some nice scenic shots, however it dragged out the movie which made it even more boring. The closing scene is completely illogical. I do not get how could this receive so many Australian awards ( I live in Australia for the last 3 years) it is not even a good film on the Australian scene, watch Candy if you would like to see a good OZ movie, but this is outrageously horrible, I wish I could vote 0 to drop the current rating even more.
Syl
I felt the film had a good plot, storyline, and an unexpected surprise. My problem with the overall film was that the director didn't answer the cause of death and why. I felt that the death itself wasn't necessary. Don't want to spoil the surprise. The film has a clash cultures. He comes from Japan, a crowded country, and she comes from Australia. Toni Collette does a very good as the Australian geologist who must babysit the Japanese businessman who doesn't listen to her advice when needed and gets in trouble. They become unlikely friends during this field trip in Western Australian desert. While I felt the film tried to explain, it never became clear to me which is so frustrating. I only wished that they concluded with answers to questions about the death.
