Solo

Solo is a well executed crime flick starring accomplished Aussie acting stalwart Colin Friels, with familiar faces Vince Colosimo, Chris Haywood and Bruce Spence in minor support roles.

A reworking of the old retiring cop on his last/worst day scenario, Sydney based hitman/standover guy 'Barrett' (Friels) wants out but struggles to extricate himself from the clutches of the bad men and the bad good men in blue for whom he is breaking long-standing arrangements.

Also standing in the way of Barrett's desire to go solo fishing for the rest of his days is female uni student (Billie) who's brave yet naïve pursuit of writing the Godfather of all PHd's on the local crime scene places them both in the cross hairs.

Clever writing and direction toys with viewers' allegiances, with Barrett and Billie's inverted character portrayals leading to arguably a surprising (yet justified upon reflection) conclusion for those who chance upon Solo on Youtube and grant it a well spent 90 minutes of their time.

I was out in Sydney during their Film Festival and just happened to see "Solo" being advertised at this cool little cinema down by the Opera House called the Dendy. I went and checked it out and have to say enjoyed myself thoroughly right the way through with some turns in the Movie that caught me off guard.

The Aussie humour I dig so much and this movie captured it in spades. Found out later that the dude who made this film had won project greenlight and it was his first feature. This guy will go places and I'm looking forward to the next flick he brings out as I love that edge he created in Solo and I love a movie that I walk away thinking I should've seen it coming but I just got blindsided.

Top Marks from me! Well done.

Hey, I've got a good idea: let's make a hit-man movie just like all those other ones. We'll start with a scene of our world-weary, gravel-voiced, chain-smoking, smart-talking hero (who you will recognise from countless similar film and TV appearances) disposing of a sawn up body (actually a nice little scene), then we'll have him visit yet another chirpy cockney psychopath (except this actor can't do a cockney accent, but hey, he's stocky and bald and he's been in 3 other movies lately so he must be good.) Then we'll have our hero, (who's trying to turn his back on the mob!) meet a lovely, fresh-faced young girl in a very macho environment (irony). Of course, she's extremely intelligent, and doing a Phd, and is naturally attracted to a hit-man. Who isn't? Then let's introduce the next ham, (playing the central cop) by having him snorting coke from his desk in the office, at police HQ - wow! I hope these comments haven't depressed you too much. Unfortunately Solo depressed the hell out of me - and that was just the first 10 minutes.

Having read the screenplay on Project Greenlight, I was keen to see how it turned out. It was true to the script, which is what one would hope when the director is also the writer, but there were scenes which could have been deleted without diminishing the impact of the film. When I read the script, I got the feeling of a comic-book story and there's nothing wrong with this--gritty, tough, seamy underside of a big city. Somehow the film didn't quite carry this across and seemed to be trying to add more credibility to what could be just a good, slightly-clichéd action flick. One thing that I thought was that it was shot on video. Some of the scenes definitely lacked the sharp crispness of film and I was surprised to see the Kodak logo in the end credits. I was also surprised that they could shoot it on film and keep it in the AUD1M budget. Shooting on video could have actually added a grainy dimension which would suit this film noir genre. The choice of music was as good as it gets.

Despite the excitement I had watching the build up to this movie on FOXTEL after seeing Morgan O'Neill win the project greenlight Australia competition, even my expectations were surpassed. O'Neill has crafted an authentic Australian crime movie that fulfills its promise to entertain.

We are introduced to Barrett in the movie, sublimely played by Colin Friels, and I would challenge any viewer to feel a pathos for this heartless dealer in death. However O'Neill achieves what every director aims for: to make us care for the characters he has created. To be perfectly honest I thoroughly enjoyed all the performances and thought the casting was top notch.

The camera work also deserves a mention as there are some wonderful lighting effects . The jazz soundtrack is sensual and matches the side of Sydney O'Neill is exhibiting. There is also some Australian hip-hop in a scene set in Sydney's seedy King's Cross whose only criticism I have is that it isn't long enough.

As a Sydney-sider this is the first time since watching "Two Hands" that I have felt a movie has captured the texture of one of the world's great cities.

Another special mention must go to Vince Colossimo whose performance I thoroughly enjoyed and I felt to be the best of the movie, perhaps this is down to the fact that I like seeing this type of a character in the movie.

O'Neill has also mastered the use of Australian humor in his work as the lines feel natural to the characters and reminded me of the Lock, Stock type of delivery. Kudos O'Neill, Kudos