Grievous Bodily Harm

Stupidest plot, laughable action, and oh my God the acting are you kidding me. Only redeeming feature of this movie was it was shot on location. I always enjoy films shot on location in other parts of the world. If you're not looking for a travel log in Australia, skip this POS.

This Australian film tries desperately hard to be 'film noir' with it's convoluted and somewhat confusing storyline. But that's where any similarity ends as lots of action takes place in daylight and massive sunshine, a noir no-no.

Once the story of a man searching for his missing wife emerges more, it turns out it isn't that intriguing anyway. And since she's staying what only seems a few streets away, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out, except the people in this aren't that smart really...

This sort of thing has been so much better in the past with classics like 'Farewell, my lovely' or more recently with 'LA Confidential.'

This just isn't in the same league.

I've wanted to see GRIEVOUS BODILY HARM for some time now but never had the chance to see it, either on TV or on video. I finally got hold of a used video cassette on Ebay for 0.50 cents and watched it. Boy, what a waste of time!

The script is terrible and the average direction is uninspired. The movie starts with two story-lines which eventually converge into one. One story is with John Waters obsessing over a woman. The other is about a reporter and some huge sums of cash he got from a dying criminal. Anyway, the start of the movie is muddled in the extreme. For some time, I had no idea what was going on. GBH has a very confusing beginning. Eventually things start to make sense halfway through the movie but it wasn't worth watching it up to that point. John Waters, an excellent actor, is totally wasted in an unpleasant one-note character, a serial killer of sorts, that could have easily been played by an unknown actor. Bruno Lawrence is somewhere in the movie. He's also wasted. The other actors are serviceable.

The funny parts of this film noir wannabe are these two points: the fact that the film actually shies away from all the interesting action. In the end, we always see the dull moments before or after the pivotal moments. Such as what happens to John Waters' character, which is completely unsatisfactory, certainly when you consider that he's the character that drives the whole story along it's murky, clunky way. We don't see any scenes of fighting or discussion between Waters and the woman. If you blink, you'll miss what's in store for him. It's totally ridiculous.

And second, the woman who's supposed to be this amazing creature that no one can resist is played by a beautiful but boring actress, who's voice is dubbed. She hardly registers any "femme fatale" aura that's needed for such a story. One really wonders why Waters' character is so obsessed with her. She hardly seems to be worth the time and effort.

After watching GRIEVOUS BODILY HARM, I knew why it was so hard to get a hold of it. It's because it's not very good.

I'd heard about this crime/thriller long time back, but only recently found a copy.

It's a true-blue Australian story that uses a conventional narrative – man on a quest – to flesh out three concurrent stories: a seemingly ordinary school teacher who is searching for his wife thought to be dead; the frenetic daily routine of a crime reporter with one of the national rags who stumbles into more than he expected; and a relentless copper who'll stop at nothing to get what he wants.

So, it has elements that you saw in films like Blood Simple (1984), or Farewell, My Lovely (1944, 1975), or Body Heat (1981) and many others – all of which are generally subsumed under the rubric 'film noir'. Think of Point Blank (1967), and you'll recall Walker (Lee Marvin) who just wanted his wife and his $40,000 back, stolen by the Mob; and the rest is classic cinematic history as Walker decimates the bad guys as only Lee Marvin could do it.

All of those films center upon a husband or boy-friend who's been suckered by The Woman – the one he's trying to find. This film doesn't have the star or directorial draw of the above films, but it's still up there with them as a true film noir.

The fascinating first twist (and there are clever twists in this film) is that the school teacher, Morris Martin (John Waters) is mentally unhinged to the point of insanity by the disappearance of his wife; and that leads him into impulsive acts – acts that you have to see to appreciate for their ferocity. The second twist is that the reporter, Tom Stewart (Colin Friels) is handed – literally – a fortune in a bag of cash from a bank robbery, in the first few minutes of this film; and which, in turn, eventually leads him to meet up with the anguished school teacher. The third twist is discovering – also early in the plot – that the relentless copper, Ray Birch (the late Bruno Lawrence), is also a cold-blooded killer who is after that cash.

Hence, while Morris continues his relentless search for his wife, Claudine (Joy Bell) – and Ray grimly and ruthlessly gets closer to the cash – Tom discovers that Claudine is alive and sets off to find her. Unhappily for Tom, so does Morris; but Tom doesn't know that. Ray, now with Tom in his sights as the bag man with all that cash, is not far behind. And, all the while, the body count just keeps getting higher...

And, as you watch and savor the unfolding nastiness and horror, you might think you will eventually anticipate how it might all end. Well, that's where the final twists come into play, and which upset all of your preconceived ideas about who gets what, and when. Truly, it's not often you are dealt such excellence in story, acting and direction, proving that you don't need block-buster money to provide intelligent and thrilling entertainment.

The filming is simply excellent, along with the editing which is sharp, focused and keeps you on edge – to follow the plot and to keep up with the fast pacing. The acting from the three central characters is just superb with John Waters – first time in my view – reminding me of a young Peter Finch and just as accomplished; Colin Friels always giving his best; and, well, Bruno Lawrence was simply one of the best actors I've ever seen. The supporting cast is more than adequate to help carry the story on, especially the very attractive femme fatale, Joy Bell.

This story and film, for me, reminds me most of the films of the Cohen brothers, well known as masters of dramatic irony, horror, and suspense. Director Mark Joffe and writer, Warwick Hind aren't there yet, but this one is an admirable addition to that type of film.

Just you wait to see the final irony in this one...delicious! Get a copy if you can. Highly recommended.

June, 2011.

This movie was a confusing one, and I found myself struggling to comprehend it. From what I could gather, a man receives photos of his wife in rather suggestive poses and hires a cop (who turns out to be crooked) to investigate. Ordinarily, I like Bruno Lawrence films, but this one just didn't cut it.

** 1/2 out of ****