Last Ride

By Clint Morris

A couple more like this and the title of Hugo Weaving’s latest might suddenly become prophetic.

Not that the new Australian film is a terrible movie, it isn’t, it’s just a fairly Vanilla offering from one of today’s best actors – where’s the sprinkles, Hugo!?
And considering how savvy Weaving (”The Matrix”, ”The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert”, ”V for Vendetta”) usually is at picking projects, it’s a surprise to even see him in it. One just hopes the versatile actor’s next film, the long-gestating remake of “The Wolfman”, is so sublime, and that his performance in it – he plays real-life copper Aberline – is so grand, that it allows us to forgive him for such an oversight.

But in fairness to Weaving, maybe Mac Gudgeon’s script for the rather tired thriller read better on paper? Maybe it seemed, at least in script form, that there was a bigger, more intriguing story there? Maybe it gave the impression that it was a film of twists and turns? Or maybe Weaving saw the script for what it was, but saw the potential, and hoped to flesh it out as the Nikon churned through film?

Directed by Glendyn Ivin (Cracker Bag), the low-budget thriller fixes on a father-and-son outfit (Weaving and Tom Russell) who travel across the country, on the run from the Law. We’re not quite sure what the well-meaning but rough Kev (the ‘teaching him to swim’ scene is fairly disturbing) is running from – only that it must be bad. Unfortunately, Ivin let’s the cat-out-of-the-bag way-too-early, giving us little else to watch past the half-way mark but a story of a man who likes to thrash his kid (who bears the dreadful nickname ‘Chook’).

Weaving is pretty much the only reason to see the movie. He’s actually – no surprise – very good. And considering he’s pretty much carrying the thing, it’s quite an achievement that he manages to keep us interested in his character. For the most, anyway. Unfortunately, the abovementioned script, and the rather indolent direction, let him down. The film is light on flair, and never does it try to be anything different than the other umpteen downunder dramas that came before it, let alone even attempt to escape the ostensible limitations of no-bucks filmmaking. It’s possible that there was a better movie here trying to get out…. Unfortunately, nobody found the zipper.

It’s sad that Australia feels it has to make movies for a certain budget (which they do, of course; filmmakers here just don’t have the financial resources to make big flicks – unless the cabbage is coming from America) because most of these flicks – especially these road thrillers – end up just blending in with one another. In a couple of years time, it’s going to be hard to remember which one was “Cactus”, which one was “Under the Radar”, and which one was “Last Ride”.

Endurable, but far from memorable, Weaving’s “Last Ride” (and I refer to it as say because he’s the best thing in it) is best left for DVD… or Cable.