I've noticed that out of the fifty
films I did my three part list on last year, and the films I've
covered so far this year, I've had nothing from the very country I
called home. So, I bought this film especially for that purpose
(besides edging me one closer to my goal of fifty again), a film
called The Great Mint Swindle. It aired on TV before getting a DVD
release a week or so later, so I wasn't expecting solid gold (no pun
intended), but hey, I've been surprised before.
Forty nine gold bars have been taken
from the Perth Mint, and an investigation leads to the arrest of the
Mickelberg brothers Ray (Grant Bowler), Peter (Todd Lasance) and
Brian (Josh Qoung Tart), who claim they're innocent. All three are
charged but continue to fight from prison, believing they are the
victims of a set up.
I went into this knowing next to
nothing about the actual events that inspired this movie, the only
knowledge I had was that the three brothers were sent to jail and
that gold was stolen. So, I didn't know what to expect. Was I going
to get a tale of morally grey cops and citizens, caught up in
something bigger than all the players involved? Or of garden variety
criminals who stonewall the efforts of determined officers of the
law?
Well... neither. Despite the opening,
in which the Mickelberg brothers actually do commit a crime involving
gold (which is brought up later in the film), their case is actually
compelling and even though I was convinced they were guilty (doesn't
help that Peter is a bit of a smartarse), the movie actually
portrayed them in a (mostly) positive light and didn't skimp on
displaying the evidence that suggested they were innocent.
It's always hard commenting on a biopic
because you're never sure how much of the film is the cold hard
truth, and how much is exaggerated for drama. To that effect, I'll
try and keep my comments based on acting and other aspects.
Really, the movie relies on four
performers: the actors playing the three brothers and one of my
personal favourite Australian actors, Shane Bourne, playing Detective
Sergeant Don Hancock, who is basically the antagonist of the film.
Despite the fact that he's not always present, he's quite menacing
and it always seems like he's right around the corner, ready to play
bad cop. This is the first time I've ever seen Bourne in this type of
role but it's always nice to see a great actor experiment.
Of the three actors playing the
brothers, Grant Bowler is the only one I have any familiarity with,
through Australian reality game show, The Mole (neat concept, look it
up some time) and he's really good. Though of all the characters,
Brian's is the one I like the most, usually being the most rational
and mature of the three brothers, despite being the middle brother.
I do have to say, though, that the
three aren't exactly random innocent citizens that got caught up in a
big conspiracy. I mean, they fraudulently obtained some gold, made a
big press event out of a con involving them using the gold to make a
giant nugget, and even got their mother in on it. You can't exactly
say they're entirely undeserving of SOME punishment. I mean, their
own mother for crying out loud!
Despite that (and this is not a spoiler, the case details are on Wikipedia), the case remains unsolved to this day. The evidence suggests they had nothing to do with it, so I apologize for any misjudgements I may have made at the start.
On a different note, the music
selection is nice too, particularly the use of The Church's Almost
With You.
Not much else to say, really. It's a
step above most Australian fare, even ones meant for cinema, and
feels like an Underbelly telemovie only much, MUCH less violent. A
surprise but a good surprise. 3.5/5
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