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Review: The Tender Hook
Review: The Tender Hook
1920’s Sydney, in the vibrant jazz age, a time of change as the fledgling city grows at a rapid rate, the Sydney Harbour Bridge has begun construction, political parties are forming, and underworld crime has a powerful grip on the city. It is a world of violence, opportunism and larger than life characters.

RELEASE DATE: September 18 RUNNING TIME: 104 minutes RATING: M CAST: Hugo Weaving, Rose Byrne, Matthew Le Nevez, Pia Miranda, Tyler Coppin, John Batchelor. DIRECTOR: Jonathon Ogilvie WRITING CREDITS: Jonathon Ogilvie DISTRIBUTOR: Icon Film Distribution SYNOPSIS: 1920’s Sydney, in the vibrant jazz age, a time of change as the fledgling city grows at a rapid rate, the Sydney Harbour Bridge has begun construction, political parties are forming, and underworld crime has a powerful grip on the city. It is a world of violence, opportunism and larger than life characters. Iris is distraught as McHeath’s two henchmen, Ronnie and Donnie, prepare to throw a bound and gagged Art off a bridge and into the murky waters of Sydney Harbour. Three months earlier, Iris sits ringside at a boxing event with McHeath, a ‘prominent’ English businessman. In a brief encounter after the fight Art is smitten with Iris’. McHeath, impressed by Art for different reasons, recruits him as a sparring partner for Alby, a promising Aboriginal boxer. Art is soon offered Alby’s position and he trains for a showcase fight after McHeath demotes Alby on the grounds that as a black fighter his box office potential is limited and before long Art and Iris are involved in a sexual relationship that suddenly turns sour. As McHeath fights to get back his girl, he will stop at nothing to regain control – even murder! REVIEW: First instincts as the film begins are Sydney around the depression. The mood is dark and sombre, a tone that remains throughout the entire film. Only when the Iris (Byrne) and Daisy (Miranda) are off at the beach do we see a glimpse of any light hearted side to the characters yet the gloomy undertones continue to envelop the action even as we watch Daisy dive off the Pier on a beautiful sunny day to retrieve the stolen beers. Watching the characters it wasn’t hard to detect Weavings character connection with ‘The Threepenny Opera’ – McHeath. His nature was the same. His ruthless actions were the same. The only problem was Weaving who has a great ability at playing evil characters (think Agent Smith in THE MATRIX) had nothing to work with. Nobody was evil enough to create any real notion of fear. McHeath is a man of no morals and as such deserves no respect or sympathy, yet in the end he isn’t evil enough for the audience to cheer when he gets his just desserts. The bodyguards/ hitmen seem to be the only ones with any moral fibre and this is what ultimately lets down what is essentially a great tale. While the actors all give wonderful performances, the script lacked any real character development and this is where the film is let down. The story is too obviously signposted throughout the film. With the opening sequence, by the time the film comes to the final scenes, it is obvious what is about to unfold. There is no real tension and at no stage do you feel any real empathy towards the characters. RANKING 6 / 10 SJC
 
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