Spotswood (1992)

This movie is very uneven. Parts of it are clear and entertaining. Other scenes are confusing, or a bit too hostile, or a bit too stupid.There is a sentimentality which permeates most of the scenes about the Ball shoe factory. This helps one get through silly situations, and ones which seem to make no sense.If 15 minutes were expertly cut out of this thing, it would be a lot more watchable, and interesting. I am sure that if I was Australian, I might understand more of what was happening (and why). So, if you are down under, I can heartily endorse this to you.I was attracted to watch this because of the cast: Anthony Hopkins, Toni Collette, among others. The only character I believed was Toni Collette, but this could well be because I don't get the Aussie way-of-life.

i bought this at a dollar store along with some other pretty good DVD double features,the efficiency expert and Eliza's horoscope which i have'nt seen yet.i took a look at the cast and said looks like a good movie.Anthony Hopkins,Russell crowe,Toni Collette,and Angela punch McGregor who i knew from the movie;the island 1980.anyway they send efficiency expert(Hopkins)out to a moccasin factory to check how its being run.and he gets to know all the workers and their lives and such. Russell crowe and Toni Collette both in early roles.Anthony Hopkins is a great actor and makes the movie interesting,its take on a small factory and the people that work there.but for a buck its a real bargain.as double features go sometimes one is good the other not too good,not always the case.but if you venture into a dollar store,look through the dollar dvds.you may find some good ones like i did. i give efficiency expert 8 out of 10.good movie.

Errol Wallace's wife, Caroline, perfectly played by Angela Punch McGregor, delivers that turning point line and sums up the plot. Bottom line focused efficiency expert finally sees the people whose lives his career of recommendations affect and unwittingly saves his own marriage in the process.Some might say "slow and plodding", but then they'd be missing the point. Layers of character development compactly delivered in 90-some minutes contradict that sentiment. No one does it better than Sir Anthony. Reminiscent of Merchant and Ivory's "Howard's End" but set in 1969 in Victoria Australia's working district of Spotswood a few kilometers from Melbourne, Hopkins again makes his measured character riveting more by acting than by dialog. For instance the look on his face is priceless while not being overplayed when, after asking Caroline to get him an "axe handle or something heavier", fearing a second labor retaliation on their home, she brings him a flimsy lady's umbrella.To paraphrase another reviewer, "Quite a little gem."

This film shows us a slice of Australian work life as globalisation takes over. The workers in a small shoe factory, having grown up with the "job for life" paradigm, are examined by an efficiency expert called in by the boss, a man who wants to "modernise" without cutting staff.Many well-known Australian actors appear in this film. It is a gentle and sympathetic look at the effects of economic change. The film also has comic moments where adolescent boys try to ask out a good-looking girl without much success.This film is not a "must-see", but it passes the time acceptably.