Jindabyne is an eventful movie, but director Ray Lawrence gives the events a simple, plainspoken quality.
Jindabyne (2007)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:93
Fresh:61
Rotten:32
Average Rating:6.5/10
Consensus: Jindabyne's disparate themes may not quite cohere, but the film features fine performances from Linney and Byrne.
Rated: 15 [See Full Rating] for disturbing images, language and some nudity.
Runtime: 2 hrs 3 mins
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:25-05-2007
Synopsis: On an annual fishing trip, in isolated high country, Stewart, Carl, Rocco and Billy ('the Kid') find a girl's body in the river. It's too late in the day for them to hike back to the road and... On an annual fishing trip, in isolated high country, Stewart, Carl, Rocco and Billy ('the Kid') find a girl's body in the river. It's too late in the day for them to hike back to the road and report their tragic find. The next morning, instead of making the long trek back, they spend the day fishing. Their decision to stay on at the river is a little mysterious — almost as if the place itself is exerting some kind of magic over them. When the men finally return home to Jindabyne, and report finding the body, all hell breaks loose. Their wives can't understand how they could have gone fishing with the dead girl right there in the water — she needed their help. The men are confused — the girl was already dead, there was nothing they could do for her. Stewart's wife Claire is the last to know. As details filter out, and Stewart resists talking about what has happened, she is unnerved. There is a callousness about all of this which disturbs her deeply. Stewart is not convinced that he has done anything wrong. Claire's faith in her relationship with her husband is shaken to the core. The fishermen, their wives and their children are suddenly haunted by their own bad spirits. As public opinion builds against the actions of the men, their certainty about themselves and the decision they made at the river is challenged. They cannot undo what they have done. Only Claire understands that something fundamental is not being addressed. She wants to understand and tries to make things right. In her determination Claire sets herself not only against her own family and friends but also those of the dead girl. Her marriage is taken to the brink and her peaceful life with Stewart and their young son hangs in the balance. --© Sony Pictures Classics [More]
Starring: Laura Linney, Gabriel Byrne, Deborra-Lee Furness, John Howard
Starring: Laura Linney, Gabriel Byrne, Deborra-Lee Furness, John Howard, Leah Purcell, Stelios Yiakmis, Alice Garner, Simon Stone, Eva Lazarro, Sean Rees-Wemyss, Tatea Reilly, Betty Lucas, Chris Haywood
Director: Ray Lawrence
Director: Ray Lawrence
Screenwriter: Beatrix Christian
Story: Raymond Carver
Producer: Catherine Jarman
Composer: Paul Kelly, Dan Luscombe
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics
Reviews for Jindabyne
There's lots of talk about kharma without mentioning the word, and a major theological debate on transmigration of souls, which surprisingly, isn't boring at all.
The film's sensitive treatment of the domestic issues at the center of the story goes far to make up for the more problematic passages.
Intelligent, superbly acted and finely observed, but Jindabyne suffers from too many extraneous elements and from a story that doesn't land with enough force or purpose.
A slow, complex tale about how people live together, and about the rituals and relationships that constitute community.
It's hard not to admire the film's confidence in making the story its own, and Ms. Linney, a mix of iron will and emotional fragility, delivers her usual complex performance.
Throughout Jindabyne, I felt completely creeped out. From the disturbing opening to images of children killing animals, adults abusing each other, and a corpse, the viewing experience was unpleasant.
Lawrence and Christian have the luxury of more time to explore [the story], but instead they merely add several external, superficial elements that misunderstand and circumvent the story's center.
There are no easy answers in the film and it provides a welcome relief from the horror and action films that are filling the multiplexes. Jindabyne tackles adult topics in a subtle and intriguing manner.
Too many extraneous elements have been added but at the movie's center lies the knotty story of a marriage poisoned by amorality.
Though Linney is the standout, short-shrift should not be given to the rest of the cast, whose roles might be smaller but they're the ones who add a little color to this otherwise dreary vista.
The issues raised in Jindabyne %u2013 race hatred and prejudice and opposing those antisocial acts %u2013 resonate on a world level.
Jindabyne is wonderfully acted by Laura Linney and Gabriel Byrne, two first-rate performers working close to the bone and concerned foremost with making an audience understand their characters, as opposed to merely liking them.
Shows that even in a supposedly 'tidy town,' people still experience things and make decisions that can only be justified by saying, 'Well, you had to be there.'
Lawrence ... manages to keep the material compelling throughout ... .
The director too often errs on the side of embellishing details that didn't need to be expanded upon.
Jindabyne ends up shushing itself out of any emotional wallop. Restraint is a necessity if you’re trying to express Carver’s singular voice, but there’s a difference between being quietly devastating and muting your narrative to death.
Jindabyne musters all the emotional momentum of a reflecting pool despite a solid cast and fertile premise.
Latest News for Jindabyne
April 28, 2007:
Trailer & Poster review ![]()
More...
April 26, 2007:
Critical Consensus: This Film Is "Condemned"; "Next" Vexes; Guess "Invisible," "Kickin' It" Tomatometers!
This week at the movies, we've got clairvoyants ("Next," with Nicolas Cage and Julianne Moore), cons ("The Condemned," starring Steve Austin and Vinnie... More...
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