The film-makers have shot for profundity and lyricism to match the Australian classic, but ended up with something flavourless – and occasionally cloyingGarrett Hedlund takes his shirt off a lot in the romantic movie Dirt Music – his creamy-skinned, chiselled-featured body seemingly belonging to a gene pool combining Errol Flynn with a Hemsworth brother.
The American actor, who boasts an impressively convincing Australian accent, screams “beach hunk” in no uncertain terms.
Some of the film’s problems arise when the script – adapted by director Gregor Jordan from Tim Winton’s Miles Franklin award-winning novel of the same name – requires his character to scream other things too, such as “mysterious person with a traumatic past” and “broken, emotionally reticent man”.The narrative initially appears to be unfolding from the perspective of former nurse Georgie, who is the girlfriend of a wealthy fisherman (David Wenham) – although their relationship is going through a bad patch.
Read full article