Risk
| Year: | 2000 |
| Director: | Alan White |
| Cast: | Bryan Brown, Claudia Karvan, Tom Long |
Another mostly failed attempt to inject Australian indie chic into a mainstream story and make a cool film of it. The groovy fish-eye camera angles, familiar landmarks - even the gorgeous 928S4 Porsche can't overshadow the shortcomings.
Ben (Long), a nice loser from the country, starts at a huge insurance firm under the tutelage of adjuster Kreisky (Brown). Soon he's on the periphery of the scam Kreisky and his lover, lawyer Louise (Karvan) are pulling for extra cash (detailed in a single voiceover sentence that made no sense).
Things blow out of proportion as the hero sleeps with the vixen, who tries to convince him to get bigger - against the grain of his mentor who maintains that keeping small will ensure they escape notice.
The 'one big job' goes wrong and it's up to the hero to work out his (and everyone else's) loyalties and act, but by then you hardly care.
Bryan Brown overacts more than usual. Karvan - probably desperate to break the mould with a sex kitten role - looks like your little sister's best friend playing dress ups as a call girl. And Newcomer Long, who looks like a poor man's Nick Cave, has such a lack of charisma and talent he reminded me of David Wenham.
A big misfire. A word of advice to Australian filmmakers - stop trying to 'Australianise' American movies - make your own!
Ben (Long), a nice loser from the country, starts at a huge insurance firm under the tutelage of adjuster Kreisky (Brown). Soon he's on the periphery of the scam Kreisky and his lover, lawyer Louise (Karvan) are pulling for extra cash (detailed in a single voiceover sentence that made no sense).
Things blow out of proportion as the hero sleeps with the vixen, who tries to convince him to get bigger - against the grain of his mentor who maintains that keeping small will ensure they escape notice.
The 'one big job' goes wrong and it's up to the hero to work out his (and everyone else's) loyalties and act, but by then you hardly care.
Bryan Brown overacts more than usual. Karvan - probably desperate to break the mould with a sex kitten role - looks like your little sister's best friend playing dress ups as a call girl. And Newcomer Long, who looks like a poor man's Nick Cave, has such a lack of charisma and talent he reminded me of David Wenham.
A big misfire. A word of advice to Australian filmmakers - stop trying to 'Australianise' American movies - make your own!