KANGAROO Reviewed by GREG KING
Director: Kate Woods
Stars: Ryan Corr, Lili Whiteley, Brooke Satchwell, Deborah Mailman, Wayne Blair, Ernie Dingo, Rachel House, Roy Billings, Genevieve Lemon, Trisha Morton-Thomas.
Filmmaker Kate Woods gave us one of Australia’s great coming of age stories with her film adaptation of Looking For Alibrandi in 2000. Since then she has largely worked abroad, directing episodes of television series such as Without A Trace and Person Of Interest, etc. The film that has drawn her back to Australia and big screen story telling is Kangaroo, a delightful and entertaining family friendly film loosely based on the true story of Chris “Brolga” Barns, a former tour guide who established a kangaroo sanctuary near Alice Springs in 2011.
Although the film was based on Barns’ book Kangaroo Dundee, Harry Cripps’ screenplay takes enormous liberties with Chris’ story for this redemption tale that also highlights the importance of community and connection, love, and the healing power of animals. The film’s narrative arc may be a bit predictable, but it is still engaging.
We meet Chris Masterman (Ryan Corr, from Holding The Man, etc) a television weatherman who is ambitious to secure a more serious reporting role on the network. During a report from Sydney’s iconic Bondi Beach, he sees his opportunity to gain more attention when he leaps into the water to rescue what he believes is a baby dolphin trapped in the shallows. But his short-lived moment of fame quickly turns sour when the baby dolphin subsequently dies. Unemployed and publicly humiliated on social media Chris is thrown a lifeline when offered a job in remote town of Broome.
Driving along a long stretch of highway Chris’ beloved red corvette hits a kangaroo while he is temporarily distracted. Chris rescues the joey, an act which is witnessed by Charlie (newcomer Lily Whiteley), the tomboyish 12-year-old local indigenous girl. She is still grieving for her beloved father who passed away recently. He had instilled in her a love of kangaroos as he used to care for injured joeys as well. She shames the arrogant Chris into caring for the joey, citing a “local custom.” Chris finds himself stranded in the small outback town of Silver Gum while waiting for his car to be repaired.
Over the course of a couple of weeks Chris finds himself reluctantly caring for not one, but three baby joeys. But he also manages to ingratiate himself into the local community and turn around their initial apathy towards him. But it is the unlikely bond that slowly develops between Chris and Charlie that gives the film its heart and emotional core.
Kangaroo looks great thanks to the warm and bright widescreen cinematography from Kieran Fowler (tv series Safe Home, etc) which captures the stunning landscapes of the Northern Territory and also brings the fictitious town of Silver Gum to life and gives us a strong sense of place. Additional cinematography was done by Warwick Thornton. And kudos to production designer Sam Hobbs who has created the charming small town and given it a wonderfully appealing look and feel.
Woods has assembled a strong cast to bring the characters to life. Corr is good as Masterman and makes the transformation from arrogant, self-centred and boorish villain believable. He delivers one of his best and most sympathetic performances here. Newcomer Whiteley has an appealing screen presence and delivers an intelligent and mature performance that belies her age and lack of experience. Deborah Mailman is warm, sympathetic and brings touches of humour to her role as Rosie, Charlie’s mother who is also grieving and struggling. The fine supporting cast also boasts nice performances from Wayne Blair, Ernie Dingo, Rachel House, Genevieve Lemon, Trisha Morton-Thomas and Roy Billings in smaller roles as some of the eccentric citizens of Silver Gum.
And apparently all of the joeys seen in the film were real while many of the adult marsupials were created through some wonderful CGI imagery.
Woods directs with an assured touch and maintains a nice balance between the more emotional themes of the story and the genial humour and friendly nature of small country towns. Kangaroo is the type of family friendly film featuring cute animals that local audiences have responded strongly to in the past – think Babe or Red Dog or even the classic Storm Boy.
★★★☆
