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A young family comes to terms with fading aspirations and the responsibility of growing up. | score B- |
moviereview rates films from A (unmissable) to E (unwatchable) |
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| Cast David Wenham, Frances O'Connor, Sarah Wynter Director Robert Conolloy Screenwriter Elliot Pearlman Country Australia Rating / Running Time M / 110 minutes Australian Release April 2005 Official Site (c) moviereview
2005
ABN 72 775 390 361 |
A
young Melbourne family is adjusting to the reality of life. Eddie
(David Wenham) and Tanya (Frances O’Connor) and have a happy,
messy home that is a long way from their idealistic student dreams, but
one that suits them well enough. That’s until Eddie’s
corporate honesty becomes too much for his employers, shortly after
Tanya looses her job. It leads Eddie on a voyage of rediscovery, a trip
through a kind of hell during which he learns some painful lessons.
There are thematic similarities between this and Tom White,
another Melbourne exploration of the twin demons of work and family
that suggest something is seriously awry in the southern capital.
Likewise, Three Dollars is an eager production that continually promises a lot. Throughout, director Robert Connolly (The Bank)
develops some interesting ideas from Elliot Perlman’s popular
novel. He’s given a considerable lift by the engaging
performances of Wenham and O’Connor, particularly in flashbacks
that reveal their evolution from new romantics to old marrieds. Unlike Tom White, Three Dollars
is an appealing fable of shattered illusions explored through a tragic
lens that’s firmly anchored in a familiar world. Socialism,
capitalism, chance, choice, expression and depression are all given
their fifteen minutes and then, when the film looks ready to divulge
its hand, Three Dollars
suddenly evaporates like summer rain. Where the story intrigued
continually throughout its telling, the denouement exposes that it was
largely about nothing at all. And for a film about disclosure, this is
perhaps the most disappointing revelation of all.
// COLIN FRASER |