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Jindabyne (2007)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted: 91
Fresh: 59
Rotten:32
Average Rating: 6.5/10
Consensus: Jindabyne's disparate themes may not quite cohere, but the film features fine performances from Linney and Byrne.
Rated: R [See Full Rating] for disturbing images, language and some nudity.
Runtime: 2 hrs 3 mins
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:Apr 27, 2007 Limited
Box Office: $224,114
Synopsis: On an annual fishing trip, in isolated high country, Stewart, Carl, Rocco and Billy ('the Kid') find a girl's body in the river. It's too late in the day for them to hike back to the road and... On an annual fishing trip, in isolated high country, Stewart, Carl, Rocco and Billy ('the Kid') find a girl's body in the river. It's too late in the day for them to hike back to the road and report their tragic find. The next morning, instead of making the long trek back, they spend the day fishing. Their decision to stay on at the river is a little mysterious almost as if the place itself is exerting some kind of magic over them. When the men finally return home to Jindabyne, and report finding the body, all hell breaks loose. Their wives can't understand how they could have gone fishing with the dead girl right there in the water she needed their help. The men are confused the girl was already dead, there was nothing they could do for her. Stewart's wife Claire is the last to know. As details filter out, and Stewart resists talking about what has happened, she is unnerved. There is a callousness about all of this which disturbs her deeply. Stewart is not convinced that he has done anything wrong. Claire's faith in her relationship with her husband is shaken to the core. The fishermen, their wives and their children are suddenly haunted by their own bad spirits. As public opinion builds against the actions of the men, their certainty about themselves and the decision they made at the river is challenged. They cannot undo what they have done. Only Claire understands that something fundamental is not being addressed. She wants to understand and tries to make things right. In her determination Claire sets herself not only against her own family and friends but also those of the dead girl. Her marriage is taken to the brink and her peaceful life with Stewart and their young son hangs in the balance. --© Sony Pictures Classics [More]
Starring: Laura Linney, Gabriel Byrne, Deborra-Lee Furness, John Howard
Starring: Laura Linney, Gabriel Byrne, Deborra-Lee Furness, John Howard, Leah Purcell, Stelios Yiakmis, Alice Garner, Simon Stone, Eva Lazarro, Sean Rees-Wemyss, Tatea Reilly, Betty Lucas, Chris Haywood
Director: Ray Lawrence
Director: Ray Lawrence
Screenwriter: Beatrix Christian
Story: Raymond Carver
Producer: Catherine Jarman
Composer: Paul Kelly, Dan Luscombe
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics
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Reviews for Jindabyne
Although Jindabyne's cinematography features sweeping scenes of the Australian countryside as stunning as any of those opening shots from Brokeback Mountain, it ultimately has some bigger issues.
Less a moral dilemma than a meditation on the differences between men and women in matters of social decorum.
While it's most certainly not light viewing, and it's entirely devoid of 'Hollywood moments', this is a fine, intelligent, troubling film.
A whole lot of padding turns a fine enough story into a dour, wordy slog.
The film is novelistic in its nuance, in the patience of its storytelling and in the complexity of its mostly unhappy characters.
There is some great acting here, and some scenes do have an undercurrent of elemental power in them that tugs at your ankles. But the film never pulls you in.
"I do just what I want to do/ I want everything and I want you, too/I wish I could explain to you/But the things men without women do/You just don't understand."
The filmmakers do not feel the need to fill in every single blank for viewers by the time the credits roll. Just as in reality, these characters' problems are not going to be solved with the wave of a magic wand; there are no short cuts to happiness.
The movie's remaining revelations build slowly into a set of surprisingly powerful emotional beats.
Impressively directed, thoroughly engaging drama with terrific performances and a superb script. This is one of the best films of the year.
For all the pains it takes to establish mood and character, Jindabyne hides under its own uneasy surfaces; it never allows enough sense of what this community really is, of whats to be grieved when it comes apart.
Jindabyne is not about just one murder but about the death by a thousand cuts that happens in its aftermath.
Apart from a contrived ending, Jindabyne comes as close as can be to a perfect drama.
A tense and spare examination of how these married people relate to each other after years of pain, mistrust and secrets have taken their toll.
The frustration here is that none of this leads anywhere. Perhaps that is the point, that some mysteries are never solved, but Jindabyne could give us a little more to work with.
Latest News for Jindabyne
April 28, 2007:
Trailer & Poster review ![]()
More...
April 26, 2007:
Critical Consensus: This Film Is "Condemned"; "Next" Vexes; Guess "Invisible," "Kickin' It" Tomatometers!
This week at the movies, we've got clairvoyants ("Next," with Nicolas Cage and Julianne Moore), cons ("The Condemned," starring Steve Austin and Vinnie... More...
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