Mullet (2001)

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Well, I never ate Mullet (an Australian fish living in muddy waters), but this movie didn't necessarily encourage me to try. I saw the movie in a festival in Germany without subtitling. So I thought (cause my Australian English is really not that good) I am somehow missing most of the jokes, but looking at the audience, maybe there were not so many to start with. The story is: A guy nicknamed Mullet comes back to his home village after he left for three years without saying good bye. In the meantime his brother married his ex girl-friend. The film now shows how the people react to him coming back. Most of them squarely tell him to bugger off again, but he doesn't understand why and refuses to change. I think I already gave this movie more story than it has. The characters are going nowhere so is the plot. The end comes out of the blue, very unsatisfying. The actors are o.k. but cannot save a weak script. Save your money for a good Australian beer at your local pub.

In my family people who don't face up to their responsibilities, who leave suddenly when confronted, are known as bolters. My Aunt Mary, an extreme eccentric, was a bolter. A heart breaker and also a sudden breaker of leases, she'd turn up 500 miles away in another job if some man was getting too keen. She developed doin' the bolt into an art form. She managed that for 70 years!Eddie (Ben Mendelsohn) in Mullet is a bolter. He's about thirty and has unexpectedly turned up in his small town. We find that he'd broken at least two hearts by leaving three years before and it seems that he's not too interested in changing his ways. Eddie, known as Mullet, is selfish and spoilt but sufficiently self reliant to eak a living catching mullet in the local creeks while living alone in a clapped out caravan. He used to be a local rugby league star, destined for the big time in Sydney. But again he bolted.Mullet is set in a small coastal town south of Sydney. The locals aren't particularly happy even if the town looks very pretty. Mullet is scenic.His parents (Kris McQuade and Tony Barry) are malcontents who have formed an alliance based on not talking directly to each other. His brother (Andrew S. Gilbert) is a local cop and other friends include Tully (Suzie Porter) and Kay (Belinda McClory). Mullet's sister is played very nicely by Peta Brady. In fact all of the performances are very good, its just a shame that they weren't able to grace a more worthy script.Mullet is the third film from director David Caesar after Greenkeeping and Idiot Box. It's only about 90 minutes long but still seems to be padded by a profusion of meaningless set up shots that lead nowhere and a plot with far too little happening.It's all well and good to establish a scene or a mood with panning shots but lit buildings and front yards only retain a limited appeal. Mullet does have a terrifically moody sound track from Paul Healy.But it's as if the scriptwriter for Mullet had done the bolt, which is a little strange because David Caesar also wrote this muddy little piece.3 Underwritten Flys out of 5.

I got to see it for nix as a preview as well (like Aussie Stud). But I went back the next day to pay to see it again.As an Australian, its tremendously validating to see characters you recognise and understand at a level you otherwise seldom encounter.Its a bit unlikely that the value will be worth much in the hands of someone not steeped in the local culture. It does have its merits regardless, but the film would fall into the interesting but not wildly successful category I imagine.The plot is thin, but this pics not about plot, its about characters. And I don't generally worry about how pictures portray the real people they represent, I just enjoy the movie.And I enjoyed this one...

I really love the fact that Australians really don't mind having a honest look at themselves.What I especially liked was how accurate these characters were portrayed, these people are real! Granted the movie was a little slow in places, but this is set in a small town so the pacing really puts the viewer inside the minds and hearts of the people and the general atmosphere of the township. Simple story telling at its best, well portrayed by an excellent cast, I think we have all met a "mullet" or Peter and of course their fabulous parents at sometime in our lives. This film was gritty, emotional, and always searching and trying to make sense from a personal perspective, especially from a family perspective. The questions this film asks, are how does this town work? where do I (mullet) fit in? do I fit in? why did I come back? and the search always made difficult with so much communication breakdown and self denial, ultimately people are pushed into corners where eventually you have to "stand back up when you have been knocked down". The story is about Eddie "mullet" coming home after 3yrs absence and completely upsetting this little community, which is tight knit, simple yet complicated. The girlfriend he left behind has married another, so mullet wants answers! leaving the girlfriend torn between her past and her present lovers. No pretense. No gloss, just honesty and simplicity. So I f you want to kick back, smile, empathise and enjoy some light drama (just to escape hollywood cliches, and not be bombarded by explosions/gunfire and cgi effects!) then this movie is just the ticket........well done 7/10