Four of a Kind

The story may be interesting but the dramatization is lacking.

Never quite knew where this film would go. It is part police procedural, psychological thriller, revenge movie, kitchen sink confessional, and anthology series (three mostly self-contained, but linked stories). Murder, blackmail, moral ambiguity, betrayal, Autumn/Spring romance, and con artistry are all there. But who is good, who is bad? All the characters seem to be on a wide spectrum here.

Excellent ensemble cast, especially Louise Silverson, who plays a senior detective in the Melbourne police force.

The four of a kind are: Anne, the wife of a prominent surgeon; Gina, a police detective leading the investigation on the murder of the young mistress of Anne's husband; Glenda, Gina's psychiatrist, and Susan, Glenda's friend. During almost all the movie we are witnesses to lengthy conversations among some of the four. Male characters are subsidiary and barely sketched, which suits the tale.

The movie has a feeling of filmed theater; in fact Four of a Kind started as a play. At the end, the viewer only knows what has been said or implied in the conversations, which (as in real life) leaves a few plot points unexplained.

A movie like this can only succeed with a first rate script and first rate acting and all involved rise to the occasion. This seems to be the only feature movie in director Fiona Cochrane's filmography (her other works are documentaries or shorts). She does an excellent job. Music consists of soulful, jazzy interludes by Maltese-Australian singer Joe Camilleri and The Black Sorrows.

A quality movie. It grabs the viewer's attention in the first scene and doesn't let go.

In Melbourne Detective Gina Sturrick (Leverne McDonnell) interviews Anne (Louise Siverson), when her husband's supposed mistress is found stabbed to death in a park. Gina then goes to see her therapist, Glenda (Gail Watson), who confesses something quite startling to her shrink. Meanwhile the shrink goes to see her best friend Susan ( Nina Landis), and discovers that she, too, is holding back a terrible secret. In the final segment, Gina is back in a police interview room after there's another murder. Just who is guilty of what?

I won't say much more about the plot of "Four of a Kind," as its the type of movie that should reveal its secrets to the viewer as the film goes along, but I will say that its main strength is the superb performances from a talented ensemble cast. The screenplay by Helen Collins (Id be surprised if this wasn't originally written for the stage) intelligently examines and dissects these four interesting women, making this a fascinating character study. Each segment is broken up by a brief performance by the rock-jazz group Joe Camilleri and the Black Sorrows, which is less distracting than you might imagine (their music is catchy, for one thing). "Four of a Kind" reminds me of one of Woody Allen's better pictures with its incisive characterization and its intermingling of what may seem like separate story lines. Although some may be put off by the somewhat ambiguous if insinuating ending, this is a worthwhile and unusual movie made in Australia. (read more reviews on my blog Great Old Movies.)

Every line and expression in this movie will draw you in while a strange tickling sensation in the back of your head will be your intelligence being woken by its subtle, brilliant plot and sub-plots. The music fading in at the end of each episode beautifully carries the dire story higher, translating it into pure emotion, as if the gods had been so brought to tears that only blues music could convey their utter dismay.

Why the music. Why instead of an abrupt transition to the next story, a quintet of dedicated, non-showy virtuousos plying their art. Couldn't the movie's story speak for itself instead of these fine musicians saying no, it couldn't, it needed us to explain?