Swerve

This film just had its North American premiere this evening at The Hamptons International Film Festival. The crowd loved this picture. It is big on action and suspense, and it has a strange twist, which I will not disclose. The story is set in a small village in Australia, in which an innocent by standard is inadvertently drawn into a web of sex, drugs, money, and murder. These are all elements that make a good action film. The acting is very well done, the photography and direction are excellent, and Emma Boothe is really sexy. The film received a standing ovation in East Hampton NY, it should hopefully get a wide release *****

This film is not classed as such but it is a comedy and an enjoyable one too. It is full of intentional clichés and is darkly funny. It is a shallow film with little credible development of character but it is easy to sympathise with some of the players in this drama and understand their motivation. Others are automata with a single purpose or deranged with jealousy. As light entertainment it is well done and with some beautiful cinematography. It is a pleasant diversion for an hour and a half.

Mediocre Australian thriller heavy on characters and plot, but not quite as much on motivation or logic. It all starts off promisingly enough, with some intriguing scenes involving cars, drugs, death and a beautiful woman, but despite knowing well which ingredients he wanted, writer/director Craig Lahiff doesn't quite know how to prepare his dish. Mostly, his idea is to copy similar successful films, such as Tarantino's work or Oliver Stone's U-Turn. And to the extent that Swerve actually works, it's because of all the things we are not aware of in the film's first half, such as the characters' emptiness or the plot's stupidity. The talented Jason Clarke is the film's most positive asset, along with that story in the epilogue.

Apparently, Australian director and screenwriter Craig Lahiff wanted to create a "cool" thriller in the British style, but the result leaves to be desired. Even with duration less than 1 hour 20 minutes, there are long shots with riding cars and without text, the cast is not catchy, logic of twists and turns is difficult to follow, fighting/chasing scenes are arid, some supporting characters (e.g. Vince Colosimo's) are ungrounded, providing no additional value. Thus, the events do not run smoothly, and the outcome is just-another-felony-film probably suitable for killing time with popcorn rather than memorable film experience. Thanks to shortness, however, Swerve does not become boring, leading to a versatile, yet ambivalent ending.

But as for films coming from the Commonwealth of Nations, however, Australian ones are still much better than Canadian or Indian ones...

I have watched this movie twice, once at the "Premiere in Melbourne", and another time on a flight to Europe.

I enjoyed it very much, the reason why I watched twice.

The film is beautiful for its pictures filmed in South Australia (Flinders Ranges), and it is exciting due to its fast pace.

The story, which was detailed by other reviewers earlier, is exciting and keeps the viewer entertained at all times.

It is about money, love and revenge.

I would have no hesitation to see it a third time...

Anya Melbourne, Australia