Like Minds
| Year: | 2007 |
| Director: | Gregory J Read |
| Writer: | Gregory J Read |
| Cast: | Toni Collette, Richard Roxburgh, Eddie Redmayne, Tom Sturridge |
A bizarre concoction both in front of and behind the scenes, the Australian Film Finance Commission teaming up with London movie house Lumina to make a drama thriller starring Australian and British actors - many of them doing bad accents - that doesn't really know what it is.
On one hand there's a Heathers -like tale of schoolyard manipulation and intrigue as favoured son Alex (Eddie Redmayne) is roomed with quiet oddball Nigel (Tom Sturridge) in his swanky British boarding school.
Nigel starts opening up to Alex about his crackpot theory that they're both descended from the line of the Knights Templar and have to carry on their holy quest. Told in flashbacks after Alex is imprisoned and charged with Nigel's murder, it borrows elements from far better psychological thrillers and shockfests.
Then there's Richard Roxburgh and Toni Collette. He's a gruff detective under pressure to have the charges against the well-connected lad dropped, she's the Ashley Judd-a-like criminal psychologist searching for the truth whom the suddenly-evasive Alex just wants to play games with, and their part of the story makes for a generic murder investigation thriller.
While well shot and paced, the films seems to swing wildly between genres and moods, and while the answer to the mystery might keep you watching until the surprisingly bloodthirsty end, there are better films with much more interesting and original characters in the genre than can be found here.
On one hand there's a Heathers -like tale of schoolyard manipulation and intrigue as favoured son Alex (Eddie Redmayne) is roomed with quiet oddball Nigel (Tom Sturridge) in his swanky British boarding school.
Nigel starts opening up to Alex about his crackpot theory that they're both descended from the line of the Knights Templar and have to carry on their holy quest. Told in flashbacks after Alex is imprisoned and charged with Nigel's murder, it borrows elements from far better psychological thrillers and shockfests.
Then there's Richard Roxburgh and Toni Collette. He's a gruff detective under pressure to have the charges against the well-connected lad dropped, she's the Ashley Judd-a-like criminal psychologist searching for the truth whom the suddenly-evasive Alex just wants to play games with, and their part of the story makes for a generic murder investigation thriller.
While well shot and paced, the films seems to swing wildly between genres and moods, and while the answer to the mystery might keep you watching until the surprisingly bloodthirsty end, there are better films with much more interesting and original characters in the genre than can be found here.