Director: Baz Luhrmann

Cast: Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman

Rating: *****

Running at: New Empire, Inox (Forum, City Centre, Swabhumi)

He is, supposedly, the ‘sexiest man alive’ in the planet today. He is dirty and sweaty throughout the film, just in the way women, and may we say, some men, love. As he smiles that lopsided smile of his, you want to scream Rhett Butler.

She is the uncrowned queen of Hollywood, who does turn a head or two herself. This Oscar winner manages to smoulder even in full-length gowns.

But together, Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman don’t even manage a few sparks. The actors, usually reliable pros, seem too self-absorbed and self-contained to even notice each other. Jackman’s interpretation is particularly weak for his interpretation focuses primarily on the physicality of the character (all sweat and brawn), and he fails to bring to the conflicted character the kind of depth it deserves. Kidman, in contrast, shows virtuosity in completely losing herself, between the tight pleats of her body-fitting gowns. Her interpretation of the spirited woman who fights all adversities to make her mark in a man’s world, is wispy to say the least

Actually, Australia is so unclear about its heroine’s psyche or soul, that it ends up being an insincere interpretation of the 1984 Robert De Niro- Meryl Streep film, Out of Africa.

It provides very few clues to the convictions of its characters, especially the protagonist, Nicole Kidman’s character.

Kidman is a prissy Englishwoman, who in the wake of WWII, lands up in Australia to run her dead husband’s cattle station. Aiding her is an enigmatic stockman (Jackman), who helps her save the station from a greedy rival cattleman. Blended in this stale tale is the touching story of a little boy of mixed blood, which proves to be the silver lining. The young boy, who is a helping hand in the station, serves as a symbol of racism. His story, is supposedly the story of aborigines in the continent. But even his track begins to drag towards the end of the three-hour long running time.