The Square

I really enjoyed this overlooked Aussie flick because it less than predictably shows you that no matter how carefully you plan something and whittle it down to it's simplest form, the universe is chaotic and the butterfly effect can put the screws to your carefully built house of card. And yes, the whole plot here is a house of cards with one lie covering up another and another until the two characters spiral downwards into a chasm of self destruction and loss of control. For our two cheating main characters, it gets a little Kafkaesque as the circle of poison and snowballing of deceit begins to collapse in on itself and destroys everyone around them. This story has been done before but I thought The Square did a good job of telling it from yet another angle.

It helps to know absolutely nothing about "The Square" before watching it, just so that it can hit you harder. Nash Edgerton's film depicts an affair between construction foreman Ray (David Roberts) and housewife Carla (Claire van der Boom) which leads to disastrous events. The mud created by the rain in some scenes is nothing compared to what is happening as part of the plot. Many of the shots are not lit entirely, adding to the unpleasant feeling.

Without a doubt, the movie portrays a much grittier side of Australia than we often see in movies. The land down under is often associated with Crocodile Dundee or Aboriginal culture. What "The Square" depicts is closer to what we see in Guy Ritchie's movies, except that the events here are no laughing matter. This is as gut-busting as can be, especially with what happens at the end. But don't get me wrong, it's definitely worth seeing...unless you have a weak stomach.

Also starring Joel Edgerton, Anthony Hayes, Peter Phelps and Bill Hunter.

What would be a fun find on cable one night isn't worth a trip to the theater. An expertly plotted story (with a particularly clever blackmail subplot) suffers from uninspired casting in the male lead. This actor embodies the film's fatal flaw: an almost total lack of humor.

Film noir is necessarily a downer genre but think how funny Body Heat and Chinatown are with their clever protagonists (and Chandler always has you laughing). The Square, however, features morose David Roberts who should be dancing with joy from his affair with the much younger, cuter, livelier Claire van der Bloom. But he's conflicted from the get-go and the director never lets us see what drew these two together in the first place. There's little chemistry between them and a few scenes between two dogs hold more joy than anything between the impassionate human lovers. The most interesting male actor is co-writer Joel Edgerton and the story might have had more sizzle if he'd been the lead.

But the plot does indeed generate some real tension and the film is watchable. Bodies pile up unexpectedly, there's a mystery inside a mystery with the strong subplot and the ending holds real surprises. The script works but the director, through his casting and tone choices, lets it and us down.

As one of those who saw the premiere of this film at the Sydney Film Festival, I can assure you if I was on the "edgerton" of my seat, it was in disbelief as implausibility piled upon implausibility until the film collapsed under their weight.

The film started well, and for a while I was happy to go along with the well-worn Noir formula of the small crime that goes wrong, and all attempts to cover it up only make things worse for the illicit lovers, and the crimes get bigger and bigger. But they also get stupider and stupider, until you just feel your intelligence is being insulted. If, as bilingizard seems to be suggesting, black humour of the order of the Coen Brothers was being attempted, then I suggest some wit (other than that involving the fate of the dogs) should have been attempted. Nor do I think David Roberts was an acceptable lead. The character was dour and unpleasant from the beginning (making it hard to care what happened to him and his paramour) and the performance added no light or shade or leavenings of humanity.

I agree it looks good, and the direction is stylish. But the plot is not just full of holes, but sinkholes that suddenly open up under the feet of the characters, and the audience.

"The Square" opens with two parked cars at a scenic overlook. In one of them, two agitated dogs observe the other vehicle where their respective owners, Ray and Carla, are engaged in some steamy extra-marital gymnastics. When Carla returns home, she spots her rough diamond husband hiding a bag of cash in the ceiling of their washroom. She decides to steal it and run off with her lover to begin a new life together. Construction site manager Ray declines to go along with her scheme at first, anticipating the fallout will foul up his sweet workplace kickback scam, but Carla's charms prove too tempting. The lovers hire themselves a dubious partner, lash together a creaky plan and set it in motion, only to meet with a firestorm of foul-ups, suspicion and terror.

"The Square" shares several themes with "Body Heat" and "Blood Simple" - the chief differences being its gritty realism and fast pacing. It also boasts a fine array of support roles which provide numerous possibilities for misunderstandings and betrayal among the various conspirators, victims and bystanders as their lives spiral out of control. By the time the dust has cleared at the conclusion, it seems the phrase 'ratcheting up the tension' might have been coined for 'The Square'. Nash Edgerton directs his brother Joel's tight script, extracting intense, believable performances from his actors. It all adds up to an impressive modern Indie film noir.