Tom White

There is a small percentage of homeless people who drop out of society completely by choice. This fact never seems real to those of us who have stable families, jobs and routines. Most often these people have an abiding antipathy for the values which society proclaims as worthwhile. Tom White is one of these people. This film is perhaps a little overly optimistic in its depiction of White's fate. I expect that bean counters would have had some role here. The plot is bleak enough without being too realistic. What the film does do is remind us of what a treasure we have in Colin Friels. I can't imagine too many actors who could have played such an anti-social part, but still made us care about what happens to him. Homelessness is an issue most Australians never have to face, and do not understand. I laud the producers of this film for this attempt to remove the lid on such an important issue.

'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.

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?

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.