Written by Joel Edgerton, director Matthew Saville’s finely balanced film noir demands that its audience decide for themselves whose side they are on – or, more importantly, if they can be on either – without having been spoon-fed a ‘correct’ judgment.
Detective Malcolm Toohey (Edgerton), saved by a bullet-proof vest when shot during a raid, gets on the grog with his fellows to celebrate the closing of a case.
Driving home drunk, he is allowed to pass through an RBT unchallenged, but shortly afterwards his car clips a young cyclist who is delivering papers.
The boy falls and lies unconscious on the road. There were no witnesses. Instead of it being just another run of the mill exposé of corrupt coppers covering their dirty deeds, the story digs deeper into the psyches and emotional responses of the three men involved – Toohey, Summer (Tom Wilkinson), a senior detective who has been around the traps long enough to know how to put a lid on the matter, as well as make a rational argument for doing so, and Melic (Jai Courtney), the up-and-comer who, like a dog with a bone, will not rest until the truth is brought to light.
But at what price is truth unearthed? Are there not more serious felons to be pursued? Should a decent family man be punished for such an accident?
The script tends to drift and it bends over backwards to make its point in an overly contrived fight between Summer and Melic, while the out-of-left-field development of Melic’s feelings for the boy’s mother (Sarah Roberts) is gratuitous and, for the detective, wildly out of character.
Performances from all are terrific – Wilkinson does a better-than-average Australian accent – but though gripping, the tone and ‘look’ of the movie lack light and shade.
Apart from the perfect use of Roxy Music’s Avalon in the moments leading up to the accident, the score is too often intrusive and the ending is a bit of a stretch.
Starting off great but finishing less so, it is still well worth a look.
~ John Campbell
