Film Reviews

Ned Kelly

• Rating:
• Director: Gregor Jordan.
• Starring: Heath Ledger, Orlando Bloom, Joel Edgerton, Geoffrey Rush, Laurence Kinlan, Phil Barantini, Naomi Watts, Rachel Griffiths.
• Details: UK and Aus / 109 mins / (15PG).

History is rarely best served by motion pictures and such is the case with 'Ned Kelly' - a rousing if wildly inaccurate biopic of the Irish-Australian outlaw. A modern day Robin Hood, 'Ned Kelly' is of a romanticised excursion which suffers from murky inconsistencies and teary-eyed nostalgia, but one which makes no excuses for its brash tendencies. Just behind a certain Mr. Affleck when it comes to a lack of presence, Heath Ledger plays our eponymous hero. After serving time on a horse stealing rap, the young Ned is released in 1871 and has to support his family. Unfortunately, a series of mishaps that would warrant a hefty chapter in 'When Bad Things Happen to Good Outlaws' sees Kelly get fingered for a murder rap. Realising he's being set up to take a fall for something he didn't do, Kelly gets a couple of his mates - Joe (Bloom), Aaron (Edgerton), Steve (Barantini), brother Dan (Kinlan) - and decides to take a stand. Of course, this stand necessitates the robbery of a few banks. But what the hell, think our boys - in for a penny, in for a pound. And that pretty much sets the tone for 'Ned Kelly' - a brassy, pushy slice of Hollywood myth building trying to push itself off as something bordering on historical fact. Think a 'Braveheart' lite with a less charismatic leading man, 'Ned Kelly' perverts the deeply interesting real life story of the notorious gunslinger, and delivers a smooth unthreatening picture which doesn't really provide any real insight into the man or his actions. Still, Gregor Jordan takes a smooth, unfussy directorial approach allowing things to unfold while Oliver Stapleton's cinematography is a sight to behold. The barren Australian countryside has rarely looked so magnificently barren, which almost makes up for Ledger's disastrous accent.

Review by Garreth Murphy