Goldstone (2018)

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

I found this film by accident as I didn't realise that they had made a sequel to the very intriguing and dark Mystery Road. Our lead is sent on a case again in the middle of nowhere in Australia, but he is a wreck (not surprising when you look back on the first film). Anyhow, he ends up having to liaise with a local cop who is passive on all the ills he sees round him, and each is a foil for the other. There is mass corruption and life to some others is worthless, or local cop can end up in either direction, especially as he takes an emotional investment in the goings on of Human Trafficking of young Chinese women.So what we have is a case of redemption? Will the local cop leave the world as it is, or challenge the immorality? Everyone else seems to just play along, but our lead says no! Will the local cop back him or not?Like this film this is sumptuous, and the real star is the glorious cinematography, which contrasts the dark heart of the human soul. Yet we have hope in it all.Our lead is as intriguing as ever, and his own failings are something that endear you to him. I'm very happy they made this film, as we continue the journey. There's a Mad Max element to the lead character & story (albeit no fantasy), but it's still violent and unforgiving.Again, this is a case worth investigating, and I can't wait to the next film in this series. Very dark yet very beautiful to watch, there's a heart in this movie and you will find it. Deserves better than the ratings so far have given it credit for.

Indigenous Detective Jay Swan arrives in the frontier town of Goldstone on a missing persons inquiry. What seems like a simple light duty investigation opens a web of crime and corruption. Jay must pull his life together and bury his differences with young local cop Josh, so together they can bring justice to Goldstone. Goldstone is one of those films that i didn't know what to expect but it was better than what i was expecting, the perfomances from the 2 leading men were terrific especially Pedersen and the direction is terrific with some beautiful shots of the desert and an amazing car chase that feels real and gritty. It's dramatic, it's action packed and even slow the relationship of it's characters keep things going and going until the end credits. (9/10)

Goldstone could have been a far better movie than the interesting one it is. As a pastiche of several other classics along the lines of; Bad Day at Black Rock, Shane, Magnificent 7, and others, it ambles on to tell a fairly conventional but interesting story of corruption and moral decay set in an outback mining village (often referred to as the 'Town') The multi-talented writer, director, cinematographer, editor and score composer, is Queensland born (to an Aust Indigenous mother and Croatian/German Father) Ivan Sen. Mr Sen has perfected the look of many trend-setting movie makers as well as some of his own unique touches. This should hold the patient viewers interest with its superb desolate landscapes and settings but falls somewhat short with odd, foolish touches - such as an over the top shootout where the neighborhood miners carry on performing menial out-door tasks while serious heavy- gunfire rains mercilessly around them (if this was supposed to be John Wayne type humour, it doesn't work). A strong character performance by indigenous performer Aron Pederson as the investigating detective is weakened from his being eternally paralytic - leaving himself way too vulnerable to the deadly situations he's working within. The business 'crooks' all tend to be clichéd and rather one dimensional, while their henchmen are too gung-ho Americanised. The predictable & needless over-use of four-letter words becomes tiresome and the walk-away-from gunfire ridden car smash-up (while well done) is a stretch, to say the least. But, all that aside, it's a good-looking, attention holding, Technicolour/Noir, Modern Aussie Western – that could have been a social conscience classic.

I went to see this because I like to support Australian cinema when I can. It had decent reviews on Rotten Tomatoes so I thought why not. I was happy to go along with the story line even though it was pretty damn flawed and pretty uninspiring. There were a few parts of the movie where I thought the acting was quite cringe worthy (drunk cop). Some of the characters were quite cliché to. I was quite happy to look past the films shortcomings thinking the move might lift in the final act. It got worse. Hats get shot off when it should have been heads. This is where it really turns to sh&t with one of the lamest gun fights ever. Watch the main protagonists shoot it out while random people hang washing out or put the bins away with no idea there's a gunfight happening next to them! Anyway it was pretty terrible. I thought the movie was pretty damn pretentious to, given the quality of the writing and directing. Pretty good cinematography though.