PRIME MOVER: JACKKNIFE ON THE HIGHWAY
November 10th 2009 03:51
Emily Barclay in Prime Mover
Visiting an Australian cinema in recent times, you almost certainly would have witnessed the solemn adverts blaming piracy for a decline in the local film industry. Perhaps the ads have a point, but the Australian film bodies should first take a closer look at the material they’re producing to better understand why things might be in such a parlous state.
Prime Mover is a perfect example.
It’s now 13 years since David Caesar made heads turn with his feature, “Idiot Box”. Since then, however, it’s been a struggle to recapture the magic, his last film, “Dirty Deeds”, underlining the diminishing returns on offer from the seasoned writer and director.
Prime Mover turns out to be another disappointment for Caesar. An engagingly whimsical tale about a young wannabe trucker in outback New South Wales kicks off in some style but soon enough turns down the disappointing path of by-the-numbers thriller.
Michael Dorman plays Tom, a talented young painter who works at the truck yard of Phil (William McInnes), adorning the coming and going prime movers (massive trucks that haul double trailer road trains) with his distinctive artwork. It’s a unique gift, but what Tom really wants is to have his own truck.
Trucks aren’t the only things on Tom’s mind, though: his initially careful courting of the beautiful local service station attendant (Emily Barclay) is quickly blossoming into a fully-fledged relationship. Soon Tom is getting in too deep, too quickly with both his passions, and a sketchy loan for a brand new rig risks strangling the life out of the young man’s aspirations.
The initial scenes in Prime Mover ring with an authenticity coming straight from Caesar’s own time as a teenage trucker. There’s an effortless understanding of the culture connected to the massive road trains and it helps sell what initially seems to be an engagingly light story. The director is helped by the appeal of his young performers. Dorman has plenty of charisma and also shares an engaging chemistry with the appealing Barclay.
A desperate Tom (Michael Dorman) receives some advice from Phil (William McInnes) in Prime Mover
But things take a serious turn for the worse when Tom’s trucking career begins. Caesar throws in the towel on his promising early work and subjects the audience to a miserable excuse for a thriller. It hits all the overly familiar beats of the young-player-in-over-his-head formula but carries very little in the way of storytelling conviction.
This wouldn’t be such a problem if the character work was up to scratch. Unfortunately it isn’t: Tom turns out – not by design – to be one of the most unsympathetic protagonists in recent memory. He’s selfish, arrogant and passively sexist. In the real world, any girl would ditch him long before Barclay’s character even senses there’s a problem in their relationship.
Not helping Prime Mover is a set of unlikely developments thrown in to put extra strain on the young couple’s relationship and a resolution that’s plainly implausible. Even the ever-reliable William McInnes and a sinister Ben Mendelsohn fail to have much impact on proceedings.
It’s disappointing to see things come to this for Caesar; Prime Mover is no return to the distinction of his early career. Even so, Caesar’s name has seen the film receive plenty of local press, and that’s perhaps where it’s unfair on audiences. Prime Mover is another Australian effort that over promises and under delivers, potentially only serving to further alienate filmgoers already dubious about locally made content.
Check out the trailer below:
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Comment by David O'Connell
Screen Fanatic
I just think the guy writes terrible, unconvincing dialogue and it doesn't seem to be improving much. The surreal/fantasy touches, in lesser hands, are a surefire disaster waiting to happen too.
Comment by Matt Shea
20/20 Filmsight
Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD