AUSTRALIA

I recently rented Australia (PG-13; 2008) from the local Red Box rental system. I love that system. It allows me to rent and return DVDs at my own convenience. Anyway, I found this movie to be good in a lot of ways, but it was way too long. At around three hours, I felt that there were probably some scenes that could have been cut without ruining the story line or rmoving necessary details.

I also felt that the opening scenes mislead the audience a bit, being almost comical. The movie was serious the rest of the way through so those scenes were out of place and did nothing to enhance the story line.

Having said all that, basically the movie was well done with great actors (Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman), and introduced a fine young actor named Brandon Walters, who played a half white, half native on the run from the authorities who would have placed him in a mission school away from those he loved.

The story centered around a wealthy British widow who inherits a cattle ranch in Australia from her deceased husband. Formerly accustomed to saitin drapes and area rugs, she is now thrown into a harsher, more primitive lifestyle that she gently tries to soften. She fights to retain her land and to drive the immense herd of cattle to the coast where she can sell them.

There was plenty of action, a solid plot, and some romance, all of which made this movie worth watching.