In deinen Armen

This is a strange little film- not without its merits, but another Aussie feature that relies too heavily on landscape and moodiness than on a coherent and compelling narrative. Based on a Tim Winton novel; the beauty and harshness of the West Australian coast is majestically depicted here, but the plot is muddied and muddled with flashbacks and endless super wide vistas and perturbed close ups to really hit the target.

Scottish Kelly Macdonald does a passable Australian accent and for me she is the best thing in this film. Always interesting, nay fascinating, Kelly imbues her character here with a mixture of yearning and sorrow, but the backstory for her feels shoehorned and lacks credulity. Likewise American Garret Hedlund is really fine here, but did we need both leads to be imported? A Hemsworth would have fit the bill just as well as the good looking drifter that Garrett embodies here. His flashbacks and perspectives are more front and centre, but I personally found them less successful and somewhat obtuse. Perhaps the prosaic elements of the novel made this a little unfilmable but experienced Director Gregor Jordan certainly gave it a shot. I just didn't really feel much watching this. Nice to look at; but a bit ho hum and certainly the music and the dirt were less than compelling. On the plus side, it is always a treat to see Aussie veteran Chris Haywood pop up.

The rating of 5.2 is utter rubbish. I absolutely enjoyed this film from start to finish. The three leads are a pleasure to watch. And the music and cinematography in the film are both beautiful.

The movie tells the story of Georgie who is tired of trying to connect with the absent partner, who is the local legendary fishermen, Jim. While Jim has his own ghosts haunting him, the movie centers around the lost and grieving Lou and his connection with Georgie. Garret Hedlund has done a great job portraying the broken Lou who is determined to punish himself. By the end you will be yearning for a happy ending in this lovey film set in Western Australia.

7/10

The movie would have been half decent if they had cast actual Australians in the lead roles. Having to sit and listen to those TERRIBLE fake accents made me laugh in parts where I should have been empathising with the characters. It also made most of the dialogue stilted and cringeworthy. It's a real shame that Australian films never seem to have Australians in them... what's the point?

So disappointing, on so many levels. Thank goodness for the beautiful scenery & music. Going to see an adaptation of a Tim Winton book, with Gregor Jordan directing, with David Wenham & Aaron Pedersen in the cast, shot in W A and with Julia Stone contributing her beautiful voice and music, should have been an all round delightful experience. Sadly my expectations were way too high! Very surprised to be so let down by the direction and acting so I can only conclude that Jack Thorne struggled desperately with the adaptation from written word to the screen. Even David Wenham struggled, unusually. A high point of the casting was Aaron Pedersen, just a pity he didn't get more screen time. Hard to understand how the usually highly talented Gregor Jordan's direction was so lacking and again, can only conclude that the product he had to work with was so below standard.

I wasn't sure what to expect after the mixed reviews but as I love the book, decided to give it a go and really enjoyed the movie. Strengths of it are the good acting from a strong cast and amazing WA scenery. Great to see Chris Haywood on screen. Yeah it's not perfect but it successfully avoids so many of the usual film cliches and that made it easy to enjoy and appreciate.