Reviewed by GREG KING
Director: Mack Lindon
Stars: Nathan Wilson, Martin Sacks, Marty Rhone, Erin Connor, Linda Millar, Anthony Miller, Gemma Laurelle, Reece Milne, James Kearney, David Cuthbertson, Kurt Stowers.
Rise is based on a true story, and proves yet again that truth is often stranger than fiction. Writer/director Mack Lindon was working as a male nurse in a hospital in 2006 when he was falsely accused of rape following a drunken one night stand and was sentenced to five years in prison. It was over a year and a half before his conviction was overturned and his innocence was established. But the damage to his reputation and livelihood was already done. While in prison, Lindon was inspired to start working on writing his story, which formed the basis for this film, which, ultimately, is about injustice and forgiveness.
Lindon has drawn upon his own experiences to shape the compelling and moving tale of a young man’s ordeal in prison. Rise has more in common with the classic The Shawshank Redemption though as it explores an unlikely but nurturing friendship within these prison walls rather than the more desensitising violence and brutality prevalent to the subgenre.
Lindon’s fictional counterpart here is Will McIntyre (played by newcomer Nathan Wilson), a young male nurse whose life is ruined after a drunken one night stand. Anxious to get back with her estranged boyfriend, the girl charges Will with rape. It is a he said/she said situation, but in the court her accusations carry more emotional weight. Watch closely some of the early montage sequences as they offer clues as to the truth of the situation.
In prison, Will finds a reluctant protector and mentor in the form of notorious bank robber and tough guy Jimmy Cove (played by Martin Sacks) who takes the naive youngster under his wing and tutors him in the art of survival inside the four walls of the maximum security prison. But because of his nursing background, Will is also assigned to task of caring for the mute, wheelchair bound Fung (former 70s pop star Marty Rhone), whose disability makes him even more vulnerable in this chaotic and pitiless environment.
With his tattooed body, his facial hair, his bald head and his tough attitude, Sacks is a far cry from the noble policeman he played for so long in the popular tv series Blue Heelers, for which he won a string of Logies. He seems to have bulked up physically and has a solid presence as the hard as nails veteran criminal, and he delivers a strong, gruff performance. Rhone is also almost unrecogniseable from the young pop star better known for hits like Mean Pair Of Jeans, but he gives quite an incredibly emotional and wordless performance.
And in his first role, Wilson has a likeable screen presence and is good as the naive, innocent and trusting Will, who learns how to survive. There is some tension as we do fear for Will and worry about what will happen to him in this harsh and contained environment.
A powerful and cathartic act of forgiveness allows Will to move past his feelings of anger and bitterness and set about getting his life back together again. It’s not how many times you fall, but how many times you get up again that is important, how many times you overcome adversity that is the true test of character. The film is suffused with a sense of optimism rare in most prison dramas, which tend to be somewhat bleak and brutal.
There have been many prison movies that have explored the brutality of this world and the lack of empathy for their fellow inmates, films like Ghosts Of The Civil Dead, Stir, etc, and even the tv series Oz. The relationship between Will and Jimmy is also reminiscent of that between Ewan McGregor and Brenton Thwaites in the recent Son Of A Gun, although here the drama doesn’t leave the confines of the prison.
Rise was shot on location in the former correctional facility of Borallon in Queensland, which lends an authenticity to the prison scenes. Lindon’s experience also adds a certain veracity and truthfulness to the material.
Rise is the first feature from Lindon, and his inexperience shows through in those scenes that follow the efforts of a respected barrister (played by Erin Connor) who works pro-bono to try and overturn Will’s conviction. Some of these scenes appear clumsily staged, the performances seem perfunctory, and the dialogue is often wooden. Lindon needed to develop these scenes more fully to add more drama and urgency.
But there is enough in Rise to suggest that the tyro self taught filmmaker has promise, and could make a great film if given a stronger script and a bigger budget.
★★★
