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Life at the peach factory closes in when an adopted girl is given the diary written by the mother she never knew. | score B- |
moviereview rates films from A (unmissable) to E (unwatchable) |
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| Cast Emma Lung, Jacqueline McKenzie, Hugo Weaving Director Craig Monahan Screenwriter Sue Smith Country Australia Rating / Running Time M / 103 minutes Australian Release June 2005 Official Site (c) moviereview
2005
ABN 72 775 390 361 |
One of the ‘new’ Australian films, Peaches
is fruit born of better decisions made by key players in our industry.
The production has a fine pedigree. Written by Sue Smith (Brides of Christ) and directed by Craig Monahan (The Interview),
it stars Jacqueline McKenzie and Hugo Weaving. Peaches is also
distinguished by a lack of quirk and its ability to distil an essence
of country Australia. At its core, the film is a coming of age tale for all players, young and old. After a tragic car accident, baby Steph (Emma Lung) was adopted by her mother’s best friend Jude (Jacqueline McKenzie). Eighteen years later, she obtains her mother’s diary and learns a lot more about herself and the small town she lives in. Steph strikes up an intimate relationship with her boss (Hugo Weaving), Jude’s boyfriend at the time of the accident. It firmly puts cats among pigeons and inflames the raw spots of a town under siege from its corporate masters. An accomplished work, Peaches is troubled by laboured allegories and a voice over that tell us much of what the film fails to address instinctively. There’s an invisibility to the joyless nature of Jude and Steph’s relationship and it comes as a surprise to be told they’re unhappy. This lack of onscreen friction, central to the story, denies the film its conviction. Nonetheless, the relationship they do have is touching and Lung is a revelation, ably supported by captivating performances from McKenzie and Weaving. Although it may lack the polish it believes it has, Peaches is, blemishes aside, a sweet distraction that’s well worth biting into. // COLIN FRASER |