Tom White

In Tom White, the title character (played by Colin Friels) "drops out" of society after a work crisis and becomes homeless. He drifts through Melbourne meeting a rent boy (Dan Spielman), an ex-junkie (Loene Carmen), a tramp (Bill Hunter) and a young graffiti artist (Jarryd Jinks).

Scripted by Australian playwright Daniel Keane, Tom White continues to explore the societal dissociation that Keane covers in his stage works. Like them, too, it suffers from heavy-handedness, resulting in impassioned performances from hollow characters.

Additionally, Keane's interest in medieval miracle plays – where every character is symbolic – clashes with director Alkinos Tsilimidos and cinematographer Toby Oliver's naturalistic film-making. Tom White is harshly lit and like Praise (1998), confronts the ugliness in Australian society. At the same time we don't know what motivates these people, and the dialogue is unrealistic. It's an uneasy mix.

Colin Friels turns in a strong performance, as does Rachel Blake as his wife. But many of the other characters are overly stagey. Tom White is at its most interesting towards the end, when Tom is interacting with the young graffiti artist, but is overall an interesting failure. **/***** stars.

'Tom White' is another example of an Aussie movie trying hard with a serious human story, but applying the worst of Television techniques. The reliably good principal actors did their best against a patchy script that intended to express a tragic human story but fell into the usual pitfalls of uncinematic scriptwriters and directors. There was little subtext. The characters tended to state the obvious. There was no convincing back-story to propel the central character onto his tragic path. The depth of field was generally bland, with considerable dead areas (common in TV studio shoots), and the framing was mainly executed in wide shots and mid shots. In Cinema, the choice of camera angles, and camera movements is a subtle and effective language in itself. Cinematography is intended to be a wonderful ally to both the screenplay and the emotional presence of the actors. Cinematography isn't simply a matter of recording what happens in front of the lens. Colin Friels was prepasred to give his all. He deserved to have been in a better film. Or was it the typical case in Australia of lack of funds, creating an impossibly stringent shooting schedule, depriving the director of the time to shoot it the way the director really wanted?

'Tom White' is by no means an easy film or, strictly speaking, an enjoyable one. But you come away thinking about the issues it raises, digging as it does into layers of emotional truth and 'life in the margins' (albeit, admittedly, somewhat romanticized).

Tom (a superb performance by Colin Friels) is a man who designs home for a living and then chooses to make himself homeless. Outwardly, he has all the signs of a comfortable, successful life - new home, loving family, successful if stressed career. But his shaking hands show something different - especially when it soon becomes clear that not everything is as it appears at work. Male middle aged 'crisis' is a huge issue in Australia at the moment, and the cause of many unexpected suicides. Tom White chooses a different path and cuts all bonds with his up to now normal life. He has chosen the margins, where those he meets, in spite of their position, have enormous self-dignity - the rent-boy, the ex-junkie, the gentlemanly tramp, the 14 year-old graffiti artist. Tom goes on a journey of his own and plumbs the depths of society, yet he overcomes and discovers his own dignity and understanding of who he is.

As mentioned, it can be somewhat romanticized, and there is little in the way of the real squalor of homelessness, but nevertheless the film presents food for thought in an attempt to present a broader understanding of those who are or chose to live on the fringes rather than endure life without any real meaning.

As an Australian currently living in Sweden, I enjoy the rare chance of getting to watch something Australian. Even if the movie itself turns out to be awful, seeing Australian brand food in the meal eating scenes and hearing real Australian accents and slang words is a novelty. But more importantly, with movies like Tom White, having lived in Australia makes me appreciate the dark humour and sarcasm that a lot of people miss. A perfect example of this is the scene with Tom and a homeless man (The homeless man's name has slipped my mind).

Homeless man: What's a man when he's dead? Tom: He's ****ing dead.

These sort of comments delivered in a deadpan way are typical of Australian humour, and also of Australian straight forward, honest attitudes. Unfortunately a lot of viewers from 'overseas' won't realize these sorts of one liners and overly negative comments are meant to be funny.

All this aside, Tom White is a great movie. It's essentially divided into parts. Each part of the movie focuses on the friendship between Tom and whoever he's currently living with. The friendships last about 20 minutes of screen time each, once the friendships end for various reasons, the film becomes about the next person Tom befriends. Because of this, watching Tom White is a bit like watching 4-5 different short films, with each friendship being its own film. All of the characters are interesting, including the minor characters, like the homeless aboriginal guy with a long grey beard and carrot top shaped hair.

If you have any romantic fantasies about living in Australia, let me tell you that this movie is a fairly accurate portrayal of Australian life and Australian people. You don't spend all day at the beach, seeing kangaroos is a novelty that gets old fast. The Australia in Tom White is the real Australia. The characters in the movie is what real Australians are like. Australians are like the people in this movie, not Steve Irwin. Living in Australia is like they live in the beginning of the film, it's not spending all day surfing.

I saw "Tom White" at its world premiere on Saturday July 31st, 2004; here in Melbourne.

"Tom White" tells the story of an ordinary guy whose life goes off the rails. When things fall apart at work, something snaps, and Tom sets out, leaving his home and family behind. What follows is almost a series of vignettes detailing Tom's run-ins with other people on the 'fringes of society', people in a world hidden in his city that he never really knew about.

I found this movie deeply thoughtful. Stepping away from the more lighthearted Australian comedy, this movie is a very thoughtful character study, looking into something for which most people have the capacity, but never really have the courage. Tom runs away from home, from his professional life in a desk job, and in doing so begins a new life, with a clean slate. He is no longer judged by his past, but by the person he is in that moment.

I watched this movie (set here in Melbourne) and found myself looking at landmarks I know in a totally different way when I passed them the next time: a day, a week later. This kind of film doesn't let go straight away, it has you thinking for quite awhile afterward too.

Recommended for audiences willing to take a chance with the relaxed pace and simply let the film wash over them. For me, the evaluation came at a later time: in the theatre I was swept away by the intriguing photography and the great performances by everyone, particularly Colin Friels (Tom White), Loene Carmen (Christine) and Jarryd Jinks (Jet). Dan Spielman and Bill Hunter gave stand-out performances also.

Three and a half from Five Stars.