The Tender Hook (2008)

The Tender Hook, or, Who Killed The Australian Film Industry? Case No. 278. This sorry excuse for a period drama takes a cast and idea with potential – Rose Byrne, Pia Miranda, Hugo Weaving, in a Jazz-era gangster drama – and turns it into a sloppily paced and executed soporific. McHeath (Weaving) is a boxing promoter and gangster and functioning illiterate; for no apparent reason he's given to singing Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen songs before bouts. How post-modern. How stupid. Anyway. There's a boxer, Art (Matthew Le Nevez), who becomes McHeath's latest protégé, over his unfortunately Aboriginal stablemate Alby (Luke Carroll).McHeath's flapper moll Iris (Byrne) makes the goo-goo eyes at him. Sexual tension squelches under the surface. Miranda plays Daisy, a friend of Iris's (these flower girls stick together) who keeps turning up in scenes unannounced. They practice dancing together and talk about "hooking up" with guys. In the 1920s. I stopped counting anachronisms after that. There's a subplot involving Japanese beer and a backstory of Broome pearl fishermen. I don't know what it was all about. For some reason that is not exactly (at all) explained, Byrne puts cocaine in Art's lemonade. McHeath thinks he's a drunk and sacks him. Byrne plots and schemes to help him out again. She's a big one for the plotting and scheming. Most of which causes trouble. McHeath's two gunsels, portly Ronnie (John Batchelor) and Russian Donnie (Tyler Coppin), debate bumping off McHeath when he realises their part in one of Iris's schemes, but Ronnie wimps out when he sees McHeath crying. A lot of practically incoherent scenes get in the road of the film finally ending.Director Jonathan Ogilvie spends a lot of time working with cinematographer Geoffrey Simpson creating some pretty images, but utterly fails to generate a sense of style, which might have compensated for and decorated the wispy, pathetically underpowered script; unfortunately Ogilvie's sense of film grammar, the lack of structuring of the scenes and exposition, is stunningly incompetent. In an early scene, Daisy suddenly appears in the car with the protagonists. How she got there, and indeed who she is, seems to have slipped Ogilvie's mind. There are many more examples of this sloppiness. Where he chases poetic sparseness, he achieves only wan irritation. He gains awkward performances from actors who are normally reliable, badly miscasting Weaving and leaning on Byrne's ability to project a kind of haunted doll-like humanity whilst saddling her with an incomprehensible character.It might not matter so much if the story had more substantial characters and stronger plotting preferably not stolen from a dozen old noir films and festooned with witlessly sprinkled pop-culture quotes. But it doesn't. It's boring.

In 1920s' post war transitional period, a chauvinist gang in Australia institutes a wagering federation for middle-weight boxing championship. Beside with their drug and beer smuggling activities, they also rig walkover horse races. Hugo Weaving plays the chief of the gang and Rose Byrne does his fiancée.My reason of seeing this film was because I follow Hugo Weaving's career since 1999's Matrix, and Rose Byrne's career since her appearance in Troy(2004). When the characters are all introduced to us, we found ourselves in the middle of crime chains. Absolutely, there is no mystery here, since we feel like we're part of the gang. Then the only lonely good guy of the movie came to the spot: Art Walker, a young and promising boxer. He defeats one of the former champions by the arbitration board decision. Resembling Scorsese's Raging Bull, the boxer is forced to throw the game. To get the title shot, he obeys to the chief. At the end, he has to make a choice between his honor and his goal to become a champion.There are no outstanding performances from the actors, yet I liked the cinematography and art direction a lot. Originally written for the screen, the techniques used for passing from one scene to the next is so impressive. The editing has been dished out very expediently that holds viewers' attention continuously, even though the storyline is very simple and unassuming.This one is originally a good sample of a crime/action genre. Not exactly a family movie for its scenes of drug usage and female nudity, but it's very entertaining for the purpose of watching with friends.

This is one of the best Australian films I've seen in years. From the witty script by director Jonathan Ogilvie to the stunning moody cinematography of Geoffrey Simpson, this film has it all. Mystery, intrigue, romance and glamour.Backed by the divine soundtrack by Chris Abrahams (including Hugo Weaving in one of his finest performances singing a Leonard Cohen number). The superb casting makes this an unmissable release for 2008. Keep an eye out for the exquisite costumes (Cappi Ireland and Akira Isogawa) and the stunning art deco locations and architecture.Do yourself a favour AND support Australian film, see The Tender Hook!

I was swept away with the look and feel of this film. It reminds me of those glam film noir films - a mix of romance and violence. Rose Byrne is so gorgeous. The beautiful 20s costumes and look really suit her. Whoever did the costumes should be congratulated. Her scenes with that young Aussie guy are HOT. Hugo Weaving is great as always - his controlled violence is scary. Like good film noir you have to pay attention to the plot, but I didn't have a problem. And I really liked the music -a mix of jazzy numbers by Chris Abrahams and some modern songs. I hope they put out a soundtrack. The whole film was an interesting mix of period film with some modern touches - like the music.