OPAL DREAM
Director: Peter Cattaneo Stars: Vince Colosimo, Jacqueline McKenzie, Sapphire Boyce, Christian Byers, David Field, Robert Menzies, Nicholas Bell
Reviewed by GREG KING
The harsh, unforgiving, and startlingly bleak landscape of Coober Pedy has provided the fitting backdrop for a number of futuristic films, like Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome and Red Planet. But now this remote opal mining town gets to play itself as it is the setting for Opal Dream, a charming enough family friendly drama from British director Peter Cattaneo, best known for The Full Monty.
Cattaneo brings an outsider's view to the depiction of Coober Pedy, and presents it in a warts and all fashion that highlights the boorishness of many of the townsfolk. However, the view of outback Australia presented here is nowhere near as grating and unflattering as the likes of Wake In Fright, etc, and the crudeness is downplayed somewhat.
The Williamsons are a family who is trying to eke out a living in the opal fields of Coober Pedy. While Rex (Vince Colosimo) struggles away on his small plot, his wife Annie (Jacqueline McKenzie) works part time at the local supermarket. Their son Ashmole (Christian Byers) is optimistic about their chances of finding riches, while daughter Kellyanne (Sapphire Boyce) is something of a loner and a misfit who finds companionship through her two imaginary friends Pobby and Dignan. The family tries their best to discourage her strange behaviour, without much success.
Then one day her two friends vanish after Rex has agreed to look after them for the day while he is working his small opal mine. That night, Kellyanne insists that Rex go looking for them amongst the opal mines where they were last seen. This leads to Rex being accused of being a “ratter”, someone who trespasses on another miner’s claim with the intention of stealing their find. Soon the family finds themselves ostracised from the community, and Rex is charged with breaking the largely unwritten law of the minefields. Kellyanne mysteriously grows sicker as the family battles against prejudice to restore their reputation.
The film begins slowly, but the pace gradually picks up as the film moves towards a rather manipulative climax that borrows from both Field Of Dreams and Pay It Forward, in which the formerly sceptical community gathers for a funeral for the two imaginary figures at the local cemetery. Cattaneo maintains a rather gentle pace throughout, and he never lets the film become too bogged down or too unbelievable.
Colosimo and McKenzie deliver quite solid performances, while young Boyce fails to make her character credible with a largely unconvincing performance. The real standout performance here comes from newcomer Byers, who is excellent in a challenging role of Ashmole, who grows from disbeliever to reluctant champion of Kellyanne’s imaginary friends. His voice-over narration anchors the film.
A co-production between England and Australia Opal Dream is visually quite bland, despite the superb locations in South Australia. But the whimsical nature of the story and the flights of fancy that drive the central story are charming enough, and will hold some appeal particularly for children. However, the film has been released without much fanfare, and it may unfortunately fail to reach the wider audience it deserves.
**1/2
Reviewed by PETER MALONE
Peter Cattaneo reached a career peak with the unexpected worldwide success of The Full Monty in 1997. His follow up film, the prison comedy, Lucky Break, was only moderately successful. Now he has gone to Australia to direct the family film, Opal Dream, based on a story by Ben Rice, who also worked on the screenplay.
The unusual setting is the opal mining town in the west of New South Wales, Lightning Ridge, (but filmed in what is often referred to as a moonscape desert, Coober Pedy - referred to in the final credits as ‘Cooper Pedy’!). While these towns are generally genial, there is an underlying brutality (seen in The Adventures Of Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert and macho posing in Coober Pedy). Here it is directed towards ‘Ratters’, those accused of going on to rival claims to search for opals. However, right triumphs in the end and the townspeople have to change their attitudes.
What brings this about in the first place is the imagination of Kellyanne Williamson, played by Sapphire Boyce. Like many children, she has imaginary playmates. However, Pobby and Dignan are completely real to her – to the embarrassment of her brother, Ashmole (Christian Byers) and the concern of her parents (Vince Colosimo and Jacqueline McKenzie). When her father takes her brother to the dig, they forget about Pobby and Dignan and have to claim they lost them. She tearfully begs her father to go back and search, even on another claim. Dad is caught and branded a ratter, bashed by the men of the town and taken to court and prosecuted.
What Cattaneo has done very effectively is to make the film as he would do any drama, not gearing it particularly towards children or expectations of how children should react. This works well. Ashmole and Kelly Anne are more realistic and so is the treatment of the story. Children are on its wavelength and adults can appreciate it as well.
A group of Australian character actors, including David Field, Robert Menzies and Nicholas Bell, round out the cast of a satisfying family film.