Jamie passion and passionfruit!

The Baz Luhrmann spectacle hits the road again with a sort of homage to the founding of the continent – drovers in the outback, Aboriginal culture with their kids being forced off to mission schools, the Japanese invasion in WW2, magic reality from the aborigines, old favourite Oz stars like Jack Thompson and Bryan Brown, an exciting cattle drive, an air raid, a big band ball, impressive landscapes and some romantic moments snatched in the middle of all this are the ingredients.  Luhrmann knows most of it is kitsch and clichéd but his intention is to produce a blockbusting epic.  Long it is, entertaining it can be, authentic it mostly is not.  The director wants to make a number of points on racism and conservative attitudes and that is fine but it sits uneasily at times with the fairy story nature of the film.  The leads, Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman are not exactly riveting, Jackman does his best and while Kidman has his moments, she seems rather lost as an actress.  Brandon Walters as the young boy shines among this crew.  The photography is lovely but how much is real or computer generated and the script wouldn’t win any prizes with its oh-so-obvious references to the Wizard of Oz.  And yet, it is not completely disastrous and as a sort of fantasy it can catch you up and swing you along if you suspend your disbelief.  Three points for the mechanics and the sheer cheek.

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