Plot & Summary
This tightly scripted semi-improvisational drama is engrossing and quite moving. The film takes an old fashioned premise - three marines hitting the town for one last night before being shipped off to war - and makes it feel fresh and authentic thanks to vibrant, off-the-cuff dialogue and excitingly raw performances. Unfolding over the course of one emotional night, the film follows three Royal Australian Navy soldiers as they attempt to get laid, bid goodbye to their city and make some sense of their life before it is put at risk in the Gulf. Matthew Newton, Ewen Leslie and Toby Schmitz are excellent as the three buddies, allowing their characters - the party animal, the sensitive guy and the dark horse - to come of age over only a few hours without asking the audience to suspend disbelief. They are served by superbly written set pieces which come alive with the unadulterated spontaneity of authentic-sounding dialogue.Three Blind Mice is a film about men coming to terms with their masculinity, sure, but first and foremost it’s a film about boys trying to find out what kind of decisions they want to be making as adults. In any case there’s no disputing that the male protagonists of Three Blind Mice are recognizably Australian, and not very different from the blokes you and I may know and hang out with down the pub. Newton has given his characters depth without giving up their boy-next-door authenticity, and he’s given them complexity without compromising on their blokey nature.
We should be thankful for the energy and talent of Matthew Newton and his friends. A trip on the international festival circuit, where this kind of cinema is often taken a little more seriously than by Sydney’s cultural commentators, might wipe that smug smile off their face, but in the meantime they should be celebrating. This is the kind of Australian cinema we should get excited about.
Rating
6.6/10 143 votesPart 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
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