Lantana

Rating:
Summary: Satisfying and Somber
Review: I'm not sure how much play this Australian movie received in the U.S., but whatever it was it deserved more. In a great opening shot, it starts with the implication that there has been a murder, but it moves steadily into a study of people, basically four couples, and how they come together in ways that are deeply emotional and questioning. Anthony LaPaglia plays Leon Zat, a Sydney detective who is trying to find out who the body is and what happened. He's married, burned out, unhappy, with a lot of stuff ready to explode. He's having a joyless affair with a woman, but he loves his wife and kids. His wife sees the marriage falling apart and doesn't know what to do about it. She's been seeing a psychiatrist, but this woman has problems of her own...a daughter who was murdered and a husband who has become frozen emotionally.

I know, it sounds like some weekday soap. Believe me, it isn't. The actors are uniformily superb. Besides LaPaglia, there's Geoffrey Rush, Barbara Hersey, and a number of Australian actors who should be better known in the U.S. If you only know LaPaglia from cop and gangster roles, TV crime shows and as the thick-headed hood/nephew in The Client, you're in for a revelation. As good as LaPaglia is, Rush matches him in a performance that is subtle, ambiguous and sad.

It's a somber movie. I recommend it highly. The DVD transfer is very good

Rating:
Summary: Great Australian Film
Review: Lantana sheds a specific plot in favor of entangled characters. Reminiscent of The Ice Storm and other such dramas exploring regret and poor decisions in life, the film does not uplift or even attempt to lie to the viewer. That is not to say that Lantana is not without morality; honesty maybe the film's most admirable quality.

Some may find Lantana uncomfortable and too attuned to the dregs of human relationships, but it's the constant reminder of the complexity of tragedy that keeps audiences aware of others' feelings and perspectives. As with The Ice Storm, the film allows characters to do what they will, for good or evil or something in between--the something that most people experience. In the depths of dark characters doing dark things, something good--even if it's only a lesson--must bloom.

Rating:
Summary: Emotional upheaval, passion and murder. Great film!
Review: This 2001 Australian film is about relationships and intersecting lives. Lantana is a plant with delicate leaves and sharp brambles which was transported into Australia and has now run wild. The screenwriting is making the same point as the passions and frustrations of the characters take over their personas.

A detective, played by Anthony LaPaglia, is having an affair. His wife is going to a psychiatrist, played by Barbara Hershey. This psychiatrist has suffered her own emotional upheaval. Two years before her 11-year-old daughter was murdered and now her husband, played by Geoffrey Rush, is emotionally distant. In spite of her training, she's judgmental about extramarital affairs and the subject of trust. Add to this mix a happily married couple with three small children who live next door to the woman the detective has romanced, a female cop who is full of good advice, and several other characters who are looking for emotional connection and we have an interesting plot about how paths cross and how we're all connected.

And then one of the women disappears and murder is suspected. Everything quickens up as the murder investigation touches on each one of these people's lives. There's emotional upheaval throughout and the conclusion is logical and satisfying. I was swept into the story as well as the emotions. At times it felt so real that it became painful. The acting was outstanding and so was the directing. And by the end of the film I felt I personally knew all of the characters with all their strengths and weaknesses. Excellent drama and definitely recommended.