THE TENDER HOOK

Set in a stylised 1920s Sydney ‘ the ‘Jazz age’ ‘ a young woman finds herself in a love triangle with her English crimeboss lover and a young boxer. Oozing with talent in the form of Hugo Weaving and Rose Byrne, and a good turn from relative newcomer Matt Le Nevez, such talent nevertheless feels a little wasted in a film that has many, perhaps too many, twists and turns, wherein the point of the thing gets a bit lost. Stylistically, it was an interesting and well-shot take on 1920s Sydney, and is also to be commended for fleshing out the supporting characters more than may have been necessary. But colourful gangland characters aside ‘ the theoretical-leftist German, the monarchist thug, the old Japanese Pearl Fisher, etc. ‘ it was unclear from where Weaving’s crimeboss character derived so much of his power, leaving the majority of the film’s antics feeling contrived.