Movie Review: The Proposition

8/10

I'm a western fan. Not all of them leave a good taste in the mouth but many are epic and majestic in scale while being very focussed on the message they want to put over and the characters in them.

This particular film is not a Western in the literal sense but in the stylistic sense there is nothing else it could be. It's actually set in Australia, during the period in which the land was being settled and "civilised" by the British and turned into a viable colony.

We are introduced to all our main protagonists immediately, Guy Pearce plays a hardened criminal, Charlie Burns, who left his brothers gang after a recent atrocity, taking their youngest brother with him. Problem is they've been caught by the local law, in the guise of Ray Winstone's troubled cop, Captain Stanley. He offers them a "proposition", namely that he won't hang the youngest brother if Guy Pearce is prepared to go kill his older brother, who is responsible for the atrocity we hear of at the start.

We basically go on from there, as Winstone tries to hold down the fort at home, while Pearce heads off to find his brohter, who is hiding in the outback with the remaining gang.

I really enjoyed this film in fact, though I was concerned as its scriptwriter is Nick Cave of all people - and some of his harsher, blackly comic outlook has clearly made it through the filmmaking process to affect the final result.

Acting is all excellent, though the real standout performances are those of Winstone as Stanley and that of his wife, Martha, played by Emily Watson. Their relationship is a rare one, in that it is solid as a rock from start to finish - even when they have the major set to their arcs requires, you always feel that love remains strong between them.

It's not perfect, naturally, while the concentration of a larger part of the movie than usual on the Winstone character is refreshing it does mean that Charlie Burns and his journey feels absurdly quick. With one short altercation with Joh Hurt (who clearly relishes his part) his trek is over, and we are at that point just waiting for him to come to a decision.

But really, this is a complaint for the purists to have. This story is far more concerned with the other part - back at the town - and how the township's desire for vengeance turns them into monsters, perhaps momentarily but undeniably.

The soundtrack is a bit odd too, occasionally so strange that the mood is quite defined by how you reconcile the music with the action. This may be annoying for some people, I thought it was innovative and quite refreshing.

I liked this film considerably, you may not, but its in the television merry-go-round now, so won't cost you anything to see next time. Check it out.

A