Last Ride
Thematically recalling Clint Eastwood's 1993 saga A Perfect World, this drama from Australia hones in on a troubled adult man and a young boy fleeing from the law. The pair in this case, however, are a father and son. Kev (Hugo Weaving) and his ten-year-old boy Chook journey deep into the recesses of the Australian outback, first abandoning their car, then riding by bus, and finally, hitchhiking across the wastelands. Their past is a deeply dysfunctional one, marred by ex-convict Kev's periodic absences from home while serving time, and Chook's only fleetingly successful attempts to understand his conflicted dad. The relationship comes to a head, however, when Kev visits a pub and hears about the murder of a close friend, Max (John Brumpton) . When Kev informs Chook of Max's death, Chook explodes with anger against his dad, forcing father and son into a series of life-changing confrontations. more..
Director: Glendyn Ivin
Starring: Hugo Weaving, Tom Russell, Anita Hegh, John Brumpton, Sonya Suares
The film is astonishing in its visual beauty; cinematographer Greig Fraser ("Snow White and the Huntsman") finds nobility in this arduous journey.
A tour-de-force turn from the persistently terrific Hugo Weaving lights a fuse under Last Ride, a spare and wrenching road movie delving into the complexities of a fraught father-son relationship.
Depicting a father-son relationship that's as tough as the Outback, engrossing road movie Last Ride reclaims the Australian landscape from the cartoonish cuteness of Baz Luhrmann's "Australia."
Newcomer Russell, at once tough and vulnerable, canny and damaged, delivers a performance of nuanced naturalism that starkly conveys the sorrow and sacrifice that sometimes come with learning to achieve self-sufficiency.
In spite of that sense of knowing where the film is headed long before it gets there, Last Ride finds poetry in its gorgeous backdrop and its portrait of a complicated character attempting, hopelessly, to set things right after upending the world.
Best Direction in a Feature Film
Australian Directors Guild (2009)
Best Lead Actor
Australian Film Institute (2009)
Best Actor - Male
Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards (2010)
Under 12
Rome Film Fest (2009)
Best Performance in an International Feature Film - Leading Young Performer
Young Artist Awards (2010)
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