1. MM

   9

   A lovely take on ambivalence and the delicate balance among human beings. Linney and Byrne, and the child actors, are excellent and the setting is often spectacular. Although at times it seemed a little long, I would readily watch it over again.… Expand

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2. MichaelE.

   4

   First the good: we get a typically strong performance by Laura Linney . Some of the scenes are good, but it takes most of the movie before we get anything like a sense of drama between the chaarcters. I've seen some people complain about the photography (all in natural light), but that is actually one of the film's true charms. The subplot about racism is heavy-handed and obvious, a far deviation from the Carver source material that hurts the story instead of adding to it. The film has to be jammed with padding to make a full two hours and some of this padding, like the lingering shots of the Australian countryside (which could be interpreted as sentimental, also working against the film's points) is painfully obvious. Jindabyne certainly does not compare favorably with the version in Robert Altman's Short Cuts from 13 years ago. Some of the scenes exist in both versions, and those analog scenes in Jindabyne are far too similar to the original. Somehow I doubt we'll be talking about this one in a year.… Expand

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3. BillS.

   3

   I'm afraid I have to disagree with the previous contributors. Lantana was a grown-up tale of how tragedy can result from credible people making plausible decisions. This, on the other hand, was about caricatures (repressed Irish boozehound? Neurotic world-citizen?) making unrecognisable choices. Sadly, as a result neither characters nor situation provoke empathy. The richness of the camerawork almost justifies the languorous pacing, but ultimately a stronger script would have been needed to avoid a sense of self-indulgence. I have no issue with the murderer simply being used for exposition, but in that case I should not have to watch him eating breakfast. For an intelligent (and entertaining) view of the complexities of human interaction, The Lives of Others was a vastly superior offering this year.… Expand

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