disgusting, overrated, pointless

Absolutely amazing

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

The movie had a really good concept. It's about race division in Australia, but more importantly it's an exploration of how a small, innocent decision (not immediately reporting a murdered body) can turn out to look malicious and divisive in hindsight, and the repercussions this can cause.My problem with this Jindabyne is that these themes were kind of taken over by the focus on the lead female character Claire and her mental and emotional issues, which didn't really work for me.There's also a very bizarre subplot where the movie shows you the movements of the murderer but this never seems to lead to anything. It creates an air of menace at first but then just becomes rather pointless. The police don't seem to have any leads to follow and so the opportunity of this becoming an engaging crime-detective drama comes to nothing.I may have just missed the point of this movie but it didn't do it for me.

Producers import two actors often seen in American films to spice up a Raymond Carver story transported to its new setting in Oz. I now remember a variation of this story from Robert Altman's Raymond Carver based film Short Cuts.I saw this on DVD, not in a theater. Five minutes were missing. I wondered if they were what must have been an awful rape scene? The murderer needed so badly to be caught and there were so many ways he should have been, so why not do what the audience wants and try to capture the rapist at least comes the dawn.I'm a little disappointed. I fell in love with the Oz movies when they started appearing in the late seventies. Let me give you a couple you can really chew on: Breaker Morant and Heart of the Stag. I recently made an extraordinary effort to get Heart of the Stag and succeeded. I asked for it ten months ago on Netflix and it wasn't found. Then in late summer I looked again and there it was.Jindabyne's a good film. Laura Linney is fine. I didn't have much respect for the other fishermen and their wives, or the husband played by Gabe Byrne either, even at the end. The movie owned a hard reality. One more thing: the way these Oz working men and their wives dressed is just putrid. The worst are those colorful coveralls Gabe Byrne wore at the office and eventually, everywhere.

The sleepy town of Jindabyne lays peacefully in suburban Australia but is badly awoken by a murder incident that divides the townsmen. With this framework, director Ray Lawrence is able to craft a unique motion picture that shows excellent insight and clear focus. Essentially a character piece, Jindabyne follows the trend of Clint Eastwood's Mystic River, portraying how lives are interrelated and affected in a local community, and the undesirable consequences that follow.The central theme of Jindabyne is one of race. When the body of a young black woman is discovered by a group of white men gone fishing, they decide to report the incident only days later after their fishing trip. This misjudgment escalates not only into a major racial issue, but also creates thorns in family relationships. The cast gives credible displays, especially Laura Linney, whose performance is both powerful and dynamic. Lawrence's direction is astute, and this allows the film narrative to flow like a river going downstream.The real plus point of Jindabyne is the cinematography work by rookie David Williamson. His ability to capture the Australian wild and its gorgeous natural beauty is noticeably impressive. The slight problem lies in the ending which is abrupt and leaves many questions unanswered. Was there justice? Was there redemption? Somehow as the end credits roll, some viewers are likely to feel unsatisfied.Jindabyne is high on drama but low on thrills. There are homage scenes referenced from the unforgettable Jaws' opening sequence. Sometimes, there's an eerie glow to the film atmosphere, but it dissipates quickly, leaving Jindabyne little room to build its capacity as a thriller. It's a substantial effort from the filmmakers, but the sum is never greater than the sum of its parts. Jindabyne starts strongly; alas it goes out with a whimper. It never really realized its immense cinematic potential.SCORE: 7.5/10 (www.filmnomenon.blogspot.com) All rights reserved!

One hopes one will not do anything truly evil in one's life; but supposing you (or someone you love) did something not exactly evil, but inexcusable - and was found out. This is the premise of Jinbadyne, and we see how the fall out of such a happening in an Australian community weakens already frail relationships and exposing tensions which are founded on a racism that, however unpleasant, is based (in both directions) on an irreconcilable sense of identity. You realise this film is good when its protagonists deliver stunning lines that seem totally natural, because you believe in their characters; also in the subtle way it works as a coolly unnerving thriller: this element of the movie is mostly played down against the personal drama so that when it is occasionally allowed to surface, it really shocks. That the villain of the piece is a sort of small town hero adds to the poignancy. If I was to call this film thoughtful, this might be a disservice: not because it isn't, but because reality bites harder than fantasy, and this is a gripping story as well as a human one.