Genres

Visitors Review

Scotness 2012-05-20 11:26:52

Interesting but somewhat flat

This telemovie is a biopic of the longest serving Labor Party PrimeMinister of Australia, Bob Hawke.With an engaging personality as it's focus, and set in a period ofgreat change in the country it promised to be compelling viewing yetcomes off slightly flat.The strongest points are Richard Roxburgh's beautifully nuancedperformance of Hawke. Roxburgh captures the voice and mannerisms ofHawke to a tee, and clearly feels everything the character experiencesin the course of the film. The deathbed scene with his mother isparticularly memorable.The dialogue in the film was it's other strongest point - reallygrounding the characters in their immediate time and place.Although offering a warts and all view of Hawke's character flaws (inparticular his serial adultery) the film still feels to skip throughall the major points in his life in no real depth. Rather than carry usthrough these issues in a connected journey that allows us to feel whathe felt as it unfolds - and then building to the inevitable and tragicending for Hawke. The film instead just seems to lay them out. Perhapsthis is just a bi-product of the telemovie form and the need for adsand a short running length. A 2 to 3 hour feature would have done thestory much better service.The film is also reasonably biased in it's assessment of his politicallegacy. His numerous achievements are listed in the credits - but nomention of the failures and the $95 billion in debt the Hawke/Keatinggovernment left the country in.By the end of the film one is left with the conclusion that his pursuitof power had tragic effects on his wife and children, and that althoughhis achievements were great the cost to himself, his family and thenation he led were just as great.