Monday, 18 June 2012

Call That A Fair Cop?


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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