While I wasn't crazy about the movie, I could still really appreciate it for everything it did- and the way it handled its themes.
Seems that it are mostly the persons who can't handle the movie its themes are the ones who don't like this movie. A movie about cross-dressing homosexuals just clearly isn't everybody's cup of tea. But the homosexual aspects of the movie really wasn't to me what the movie was all about really. I saw it more as an ode to all of the free-spirited and open-minded people of this world. People who are simply doing their thing because they like it and feel comfortable that way, no matter what everybody else says or thinks about it and those who respect people for being 'different' and not living by the normal rules and standards. It's all what makes our world even more divers and also more of a joy to live on.
And that's really the foremost thing I got out of this movie. The story itself seems to be secondary, since it's a quite simple one and can be seen as a typical road trip movie, in which the main characters come across all kinds of persons, get into trouble, while traveling through Australia. And as far as road trip movies go; this isn't the best example of it that I have ever seen. You feel that with some better writing the movie could had been a bit more fun and clever and witty to watch.
One thing I also wasn't too fond about was its pacing. It's often going way to fast, which causes some things to not develop- or make an impact properly enough. You could perhaps 'blame' it on the fact that this is of course different from a normal Hollywood movie, since it's of course an Australian production, that uses a completely different approach and way of storytelling. I often have similar sort of problems with other Australian movies, so perhaps it's fair to say that I'm just not the biggest fan of Australian cinema.
But still another thing that I can highly respect and appreciate this movie for is its acting, or rather said the courage and professionalism that the actor's show in this movie. The three main leads, who are all in drag throughout basically the entire movie, are being played by Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce and Terence Stamp. All three very manly and tough looking men in real life, who also have families of their own and clearly aren't homosexual. Yet they have absolutely no problem with it to show themselves from a more vulnerable side and also aren't afraid to walk, talk and act like as if they are actual females. I really respect it when an actor does this and plays a character that is totally the opposite of who he or she is. You could of course question it though if Guy Pearce and Hugo Weaving would had still agreed on their roles if they had been the well known and much acclaimed actors that they are today. Not that they now would complain about this movie though, since it was the one that put them in the international spotlights and they have appeared in many big Hollywood projects ever since. The haven't forgot about their home country though, since every now and then they still appear in an Australian production. It was also refreshing by the way to hear them speak in their natural accents but it's arguably still Terence Stamp who steals the show, as the elder, once very successful drag queen, with still the very deep and distinctive Terence Stamp voice.
So ultimately not a perfect movie, that I could still really enjoy and appreciate for the way it was handling and celebrating its themes.
7/10
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