Aussie Altman

>> Lantana is a solid ensemble effort

by MATTHEW HAYS

Some 20 minutes into Lantana, the latest film from Aussie director Ray Lawrence (Bliss), and I suspected I’d stumbled over another dud. A better-than-average ensemble cast was dealing with a series of relationship woes.
But then Lantana does a surprising thing at almost half-time—having one of its central characters disappear, supplying the other characters with a mystery—and the film is given several new dimensions. Based on a play by Aussie writer Andrew Bovell, the film pulls us into the lives of its disparate characters early on. Geoffrey Rush (Shine) and Barbara Hershey play a married couple whose bond is suffering severely 18 months after their daughter was abducted and murdered; Anthony LaPaglia (The Client) plays a cop who’s dealing with mid-life crises through an extra-marital affair; Rachel Blake is a woman who witnesses a neighbour doing something she thinks might be criminal.

They’re all connected, à la Altman, through various ties: if it’s not infidelity, it’s one of LaPaglia’s investigations or the shrink many of them are visiting. Bovell penned the screenplay here as well, and though some of the dialogue veers on hokiness, for the most part he deserves praise for such an intricate web of characters. Also à la Altman (in particular Short Cuts) is the disappearance and criminal investigation which brings many of the characters full circle.

Like many of Altman’s films, Lantana relies heavily on its cast, in this case a largely Aussie A-list one. They’re superb, from LaPaglia’s brooding, emotionally bruised, worn out cop, to Kerry Armstrong as his suspicious and desperate wife to Rush as a devastated parent in mourning.

External conflict, of course, is much, much easier for an actor to play than internal conflict. And to the credit of this cast, every one of them brings their inner turmoil to the fore. It’s a sharp and pensive film, Lantana, one of those rare ones that lingers with you long after the final credits have rolled. :

Lantana opens Friday, April 19