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Jindabyne

Short story adaptation feels long but eventually comes together

By Matt Pais

May 3, 2007

Critic's Rating:

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During a fishing trip outside the Australian town of Jindabyne, a group of men (led by Gabriel Byrne as Stewart) discover a dead aboriginal girl in the river and don't report it until their trip is over. That doesn't sit very well with the townspeople (some of whom call the white men's decision a hate crime) or with Stewart's wife (Laura Linney), who is still living down the depression that years ago drew her away from the first 18 months of her son's life.

Big question: Can director Ray Lawrence ("Lantana") effectively expand Raymond Carver's short story "So Much Water So Close to Home" to feature length?

Catch it: Tense performances from Byrne and Linney drive this film about who takes the high road, who takes the low road, and how the two can get along. "Jindabyne" will hit home for anyone who's ever bickered with a friend, a neighbor or a significant other. Which is everyone!

Skip it: There are a few too many issues (racial, marital, parental, etc.) to juggle, but, hey, we appreciate the effort to tackle serious subjects in a mature way. Pay attention, "Perfect Stranger"!

Bottom line: Good luck remembering much of the film's slow first half, or making it to the end without checking your watch once or twice. But "Jindabyne" shows that even in a supposedly "tidy town," people still experience things and make decisions that can only be justified by saying, "Well, you had to be there."

Bonus: Still think the sounds of the '70s are "Staying Alive"? It may be time for you to learn, as Jude (Deborra-Lee Furness) does, that proclaiming your love of the Bee Gees isn't the best way to gain cool points. Leif Garrett, anyone?

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