For those who are not located in Australia, the film and television industry is extraordinarily minute and is somewhat barren when it comes to big budget, high popularity mini series’, films made for television and television series’ alike. As such, when a series or film is advertised that seems to possess a considerable amount of potential, such as the current epic crime biography “Underbelly” that has attracted even more attention due to it being prohibited for air in Victoria because of an on going court case; audiences are intrigued.
With all due respect, we, as a country with a struggling Arts and Entertainment Industry, are barely able to churn out three or four “big-budget” films or mini-series’ to be consumed, scrutinized, praised or ignored by the general public per year. This in turn, results in a heavy reliance on what is indeed churned out to be more than good. It has to be consistently riveting and possess the potential to rival television shows on air from America and other countries around the globe.
“Emerald Falls” a supposedly ‘big budget’ Australian film made for television aired to the general public last weekend on Sunday evening on free to air TV. It was written by, produced and starred Gold Logie nominee Georgie Parker, as well as Vince Colosimo (who can usually make any role he plays at least mildly interesting) but alas, even he failed to liven the plot or the stereotypical characterisations seen a multitude of times in Australian film and television over the last five decades. One would think, that with an opportunity that was given to Georgie Parker by the NSW Film and Television Commission, one would have chosen to think outside the square and not try to emulate and regurgitate already disinteresting plotlines and characterisations to the very small amount of audience that would have remained after this bout of boredom presented consistently throughout the film.
The lacklustre and tiresome plot revolved around the divorce of Jodie Ferguson (played by Georgie Parker) from her Lawyer husband, Paul (Rhys Muldoon) and as such Jodie and her son, Zac (played by Tom Green) move to the Blue Mountains to follow her dream and business pursuit of opening a Bed and Breakfast, only to be confronted with a fraud of a doctor who is murdered, a female church minister who was having an affair with the deceased, a base jumping tour guide who runs from the police when investigating the murder for no reason, a corrupt Policeman who only appears to be corrupt in the last 30 seconds of the film and a nomad (Vince Colosimo) who pops up every now and then to invoke even more unwarranted and unnecessary disorder and disarray within the plot.
Not only was the resolution pathetic and predictable, the duration of the plot was not clear, occurrences in the transparent plot happened for no apparent nor relevant reason and character inter-relationships were ill-defined, superficially and stereotypically portrayed.
On a lighter and more positive note...
The only commendable performance in the film was that of Zac, played by Tom Green. Playing the role of the inquisitive and investigative young son not dealing well with the split of the stereotypically divorced parents now living either side of the state, Zac eventually reveals the identity of the supposed killer after emulating the role of a forensic investigator, albeit under unrealistic proportions due to common sense and law. Despite this, Green managed to capture the audience and continued to be the only consistent positive aspect throughout the entire 120-minute duration of the film.
(Allow me to be slightly more ruthlessly honest than i usually am)
Unfortunately for Green, Georgie Parker’s performance did not match his, and may sadly deny her the possibility of a Logie nomination for this role and the film, as she had previously been awarded most deservingly for her contribution to film and television in her previous works. Playing the role of the separated mother, intrigued by the nomad and the potential of a future relationship whilst moving away from her problems, her ex-husband and spending time with her seemingly depressed son, Parker's characterisation seemed slightly dull and due to her assuming the role of the central character, her performance subsequently detracted from the overall value of the film thus exacerbating the lacklustre plot and its characters. She did however, look the part in the film whereby her costuming highlighted the rapid transformation from the nurse in All Saints by which she is perceived to be most famous to in turn show her versitility in the visual aspects of her characters.
Vince Colosimo was, indeed Vince Colosimo in this film. No Austrlian film is complete without him. His reputation within the Australian Film and Television Industry far surpasses any Australian actor in recent years. He is a true talent, and can play any role. However, it is sad to see him in such a film as this, where his acting talent cannot and was not displayed to its full potential. Although, I doubt the film would taint his reputation and resume much due to the fact that it was him and Tom Green that made the film almost bearable only to be thwarted by the previously mentioned plot inconsistencies and vague characterisations from the majority of the cast.
The setting, however was breathtakingly remarkable, and proved to be the highlight of the film. Set in the Blue Mountains, the actors and the plot tended to rely on the setting for the film a little too much thus becoming distracting and slightly repetitive. However, at least the audience now knows the landscape of the Blue Mountains thanks to the documentary style and panoramic camera shots utilized consistently throughout the film.
I do believe that with a different cast, interpretation of the script and production crew, ‘Emerald Falls’ may have been somewhat of an appealing and fascinating saga. Unfortunately for the audience, channel 10 and the cast and crew, it was not even close. The idea was effectual but the result was monotonous.
Kudos to Georgie Parker for embarking on such a vast array of roles on and off-screen, as anyone who chooses to multi-task the way she did much be commended. However, it certainly does seem that perhaps the script was found under a rock in the Blue Mountains itself.
Please dont get me wrong, i have the upmost respect for the Australian Arts and Entertainment industry, those who are working in it and developing pieces for audience consumption; I appreciate every single one of them. It merely disappoints me when the outcome is a result such as this when we as a country work so hard for notoriety and acceptance in the big picture of Arts and Entertainment industries around the world.
Let us cross our fingers and now look forward to the next Australian Film and Television Commission's work such as the already impressive and popular 'Underbelly' starring, you guessed it - Vince Colosimo, the forthcoming 'Canal Road' and more.
Fin.
Latoyah
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