Blueback

Abby, a young woman working as a marine biologist, recalls her teenage years with her mother in Western Australia. She is introduced to the diverse marine life in the bay she grew up in, makes friends with a blue groper and helps her mother fight to protect the bay's marine life from encroaching property developers.

A straight-forward, heart-felt film with a pleasant, leisurely pace about pursuing a passion to protect something you care about, aimed at a young audience. The flash-back narrative structure is nostalgic and makes clear why the adult Abby is working to protect the bleaching coral reef, but it obviates any emotional or dramatic impact from either time-period. The underwater photography of the ocean life, and the actors interacting with it, is very beautifully shot, tranquil and convincing of the film's thesis, to protect ocean life. Though short on depth and complexity the film successfully depicts the simplicity and integrity of spending your life caring for your immediate environment.

The foremost criticism of Blueback is the same one everyone makes when they've read the book first: why are some things left out (to save time, supposedly), then other things added in. This is a general thing that's annoying about movies, so not singular to this movie. With that out of the way, it's a pretty good adaptation of Tim Winton's book. It conveys the story accurately, has the main scenes you're waiting to see, has the same message, etc. The cinematography is excellent. Breathtaking natural footage, which really fits with Winton's message, that the ecosystem here is beautiful and should be cherished and cared for. Bravo.

Along Australia's vast and beautiful ocean coastline Abby is a marine biologist assessing the health of coral reefs and fisheries. Just when the future for the ocean and its wildlife looks bleak and sad to her, Abby receives an urgent call about the health of her estranged mother, Dora. Abbey's return home brings her back in touch not only with her mom but with her roots and why she chose to study the ocean in the first place. There are flashbacks to when Abby was a girl, first learning to swim and dive with her mom, her inspirational artwork, and a friendly and sensitive blue grouper she once knew. As Abby reforges the connections with her mom, nature, the ocean, and to all their combined wonders, it renews her sense of hope.

The immense blue vistas, colorful coral reefs, and spectacular sunsets of Australia combine with interesting characters and touching relationships both human and animal. "It is a passionate call to arms to save the oceans," said director Robert Connolly who was present at this world premiere screening at the Toronto International Film Festival. Blueback is not preachy and does not take a doomsday approach, but it reveals many of the challenges that oceans face and remedies for a brighter future such as marine reserves and sustainable harvesting. The film is based on a story by Tim Winter, who is popular in Australia. The gigantic blue grouper ("groper" in the Canadian write up about the film, LOL) is a puppet and is not created through computer animation. The relationship chemistry and dialogues are cheesy at times, but overall Blueback is a well-made, timely, and inspiring film.

I have enjoyed previous Tim Winton book adaptations for the screen, but BLUEBACK is disappointing. While the film stays true to the book's messages of environmentalism and empowerment, it took too long to get there and didn't offer a deep enough story to keep me invested. BLUEBACK follows the journey of a young girl, Abby (Mia Wasikowska), who discovers a wild blue grouper while diving and is inspired to take action towards preserving Australia's coral reefs from destruction. She becomes an enthusiastic crusader for protecting the delicate ecosystem and its inhabitants.

The visuals are stunning, with beautiful shots of the ocean and its creatures, but they don't make up for the simplistic narrative. The movie focuses heavily on Abby and Dora's relationship, yet there is not enough development or depth to it. There could have been more exploration of the other characters who play significant roles in the story.

BLUEBACK failed to make an impression on me with its lack of narrative complexity. While its messages of environmentalism and empowerment will appeal to some viewers, its slow pacing and lack of story make it an overall underwhelming experience.

I feel somewhat guilty criticizing a picture that seems to have its heart in the right place but that just isn't very good. Such is the case with director Robert Connolly's latest, an earnest but schmaltzy, predictable, uneven offering that addresses noble sentiments but isn't put together well. The film tells the story of Abby (Mia Wasikowska), a marine biologist who's called away from her coral reef studies to care for her aging mother, Dora (Elizabeth Alexander), when she suffers a debilitating stroke that has left her unable to speak. Upon Abby's return home to her Western Australia coastal community of Longboat Bay, she reflects back on how her mother got her interested in oceanography, particularly through her efforts to establish a local marine preserve. This part of the story is told through extensive flashbacks featuring Abby's younger self (Ariel Donoghue, Ilsa Fogg) and a youthful Dora (Radha Mitchell) in their efforts to protect the bay from illegal fishing and potentially damaging waterfront development, especially after they meet and "befriend" a large wild blue grouper that Abby names Blueback. The film thus raises and addresses an array of issues related to environmentalism, ecological stewardship and cross-species relations, as well as following one's passions and walking one's walk. Unfortunately, the flashbacks dominate the narrative so much that the story thread that launches the picture feels more like an afterthought, one in which Wasikowska almost could have phoned in her part. And, as for the content that makes up the bulk of this release's screen time, it comes across as laudable and well-meaning but a little too obvious and preachy, playing more like the script of an "After School Special" or material based on a selection from an all-girls' Young Adult reading group. The somewhat insipid treatment of this story tends to undercut this release's other strengths, such as its gorgeous underwater cinematography and the value of the messages it's seeking to impart. Some might say the foregoing sounds cruelly and heavy-handedly cynical, but at least it's honest, all good intentions aside.