User reviews

Just to clarify, Laurie McInnes who wrote and directed this film, is a woman.

Aden Young is a merchant seaman with a mission. On leave now, he has been asked by a young crew member, a friend who died unexpectedly, to deliver a package to his home town - a small fishing port on the coast of Queensland.

In his imagination, a sleepy if not idyllic little township nestled away in the tropics, the reality of which he is not prepared for. Far from Paradise, he discovers a malevolent ghost town caught up in its own surrealistic existence and he is soon emmeshed in its murky past. The mystery which besets him is not easily confronted.

Sombre little piece, but not without interest. Young is excellent and is given uniformly good support by the experienced cast. Lacks cohesion at times but is definitely worth a look. Filmed totally in Queensland, this was Director McInnes' debut feature, having made his name as an award winning short-film maker.

The IMDb should NOT recommend NEWSFRONT as a serving suggestion with this film. Newsfront is a good film. This is not. Pretentious and boring and really a short film crawling through the projector for 90 minutes, BROKEN HIGHWAY stars the lost acting boy himself Aden Young. How is he not a major star? Beats me, because nearly every film poor Aden stars in is a serious financial flop. HOTEL DE LOVE... nope. BLACK ROBE shoulda been... LOVE IN LIMBO hilarious but a major disappointment at the BO. It is not Aden who is at fault, he is a good actor and looks every bit the part, whatever it is. With great looking widescreen photography and a plodding storyline described in another comment. BROKEN HIGHWAY is tedious and aggravating when it should be mysterious and fascinating. The poster was excellent and actually more interesting and more rewarding.

To start with artistically it rates a 9 out of 10. In my mind there is no such thing as perfection but if you cover enough bases then you get fairly close.

The cinematography got me right where it counts, as I love black and white when done well. The angles and use of light where exceptional and reminiscent of gems made in the 50's and 60's like The Apartment, 12 Angry Men, etc, etc the list is endless.

The actors are all of a high quality and at a level as to not reduce it down to "all about them", so this gets a thumbs up there.

The audio is again a fine piece of work with the droning of the ship in the beginning and the ocean for the beach scenes just to name a couple.

There is so much more that could be said about this film ie. the actor's etc but I would not like to spoil it for any one ready to take the plunge.

This movie made such an impact I had to buy it on DVD. It took ages to find and now it is safe in my collection, tucked deep in my cupboard away from my kid's hands.

I have to disagree with the general sentiment of the reviews for this film. I found it captivating. It is actually the closest thing to a dream -- our countries cinema has produced. The cinematography is luscious -- but it is more the way things play out in the frame that make this film the work of a filmmaker with real talent.

The pointlessness of his journey does feel futile: but that is the point. It's an internal study of image, alienation etc not a film about action and consequence.

Other really great Australian films I love include "The Coca Cola Kid" "Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith" "The cars that ate Paris" "Sweetie" "The Well" "Puberty blues" and "Life". Of course "The Night the prowler" is also really interesting for those not looking for conventional drama.