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Monday, December 3, 2018

MYSTERY ROAD (2015)

Location, location, location. In Real Estate . . . and Detective Fiction? Well, that’s the case here, where the Australian Outback is the standout element in an otherwise standard issue ‘lone wolf’ detective story. That and the extreme caesuras between each line of dialogue. Maybe Ivan Sen needed someone on the set telling him to pick up the pace as he wrote, directed, lensed, scored & edited the pic. And maybe some help in casting, too, as Aaron Pederson is less compelling than Sen thinks he is as the indigenous detective on his first murder case, coming up against a web of local intrigue (guns, drugs, ‘grog,’ teen prostitution, police indifference/involvement) as he runs down clues he gets largely from an eccentric uncle who seems to cover the whole town. And he's got an estranged wife & teen daughter in the mix, too. In a good, if depressive cast, Hugo Weaving is exceptional as a fellow officer, transferred from another territory, who may be working both sides of the fence. (Check him out choking up a bit of Chinese food.) And there’s a neatly handled shootout finale for a cinematic lift to the ending. Elsewise, the stale taste of reheated noir.

DOUBLE-BILL: Generally well received with a quick sequel, GOLDSTONE/’16, and a MYSTERY ROAD mini-series out this year.

WATCH THIS, NOT THAT: Pederson also shows on the excellent JACK IRISH series, with Guy Pearce in the lead as a Private Dick.

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