It almost have been a year since I have seen the first Jack Irish TV movie but thing I remember about it is that it was a very complex and talkative movie, in which characters kept popping up and names were being dropped all over. It must have done some things well as well, since I eventually did end up liking it more than not. This second TV movie is pretty much the same, only even more complex and less focused with its story, making this far from the most pleasant or engaging thing to watch.

It really is OK for a movie to have lots of characters in it and to be a very talkative movie, as long as it manages to maintain a good focus as well. In this movie it's hard to tell what is going on at times and what its main plot line is supposed to be all about. Besides, there are a bit too many needless distractions in the story, causing this movie to feel overlong as well. All in all, plenty of reasons to call this movie a bad and unbearable one to watch but fact actually still is that this movie still remains a perfectly watchable one, all throughout.

It's still a real quality detective movie, with a good look to it and some fine performances by its actors, Guy Pearce in particular of course. Even though you most likely won't always understand what's going on, it's reassuring to see that the characters at least still seem to know and understand what's going on and what they are doing in this. It makes the movie feel less messy than it sounds and really, it's not like you'll never understand one bit of what's going on.

The movie may feel a bit overlong but it still never bores, since there is always something going on in its story and something happening on the screen. It therefore also still is a mostly watchable movie but not one you should go out of your way to see.

6/10

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A victim from World War II's "Death Railway" sets out to find those responsible for his torture. A true story. From: IMDb.com

Directed by: Jonathan Teplitzky

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Stellan Skarsgård, Colin Firth and others

Current release date:  2013

A victim from World War II's "Death Railway" sets out to find those responsible for his torture. A true story. From: IMDb.com

Directed by: Jonathan Teplitzky

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgård and others

Current release date: 2013

Not sure if the Jack Irish movie series will become a long running or hugely popular one but it definitely has some potential in it.

Guess this best can be enjoyed if you are already familiar with the character and stories from the novels by Peter Temple. After all, the main character seems to have a long and interesting history, which doesn't really gets elaborated much on in this first movie.

You could describe this as a detective movie, with on a side note that it's main character isn't a detective at all. But it still most definitely does have a typical British detective series vibe to it, even though it's an Australian production. The way the story plays out and all of its characters are very typical for this, so it's also best to be enjoyed by those who are able to appreciate a good detective series.

That also means this isn't a terribly big production, with action set pieces or lots of other excitement. I would say on the contrary really, since this really is foremost a thinking man's movie. It's a movie you literally constantly need to pay attention to, or else you might loose track. It all starts off standard and formulaic but soon starts to develop into something much more and bigger.

The foremost reason why it all works out good and interesting enough is because the movie has a good main character in it, played by Guy Pearce. He's not the formulaic or perfect type of guy, you often see in detective series. I won't say he's a bad guy either but he certainly is not without his flaws or demons haunting them.

I won't exactly call this a perfect movie, since I do believe it will loose some of its viewers at certain points, due to it's complicated story and the movie also does in fact feels much longer than it in fact truly is. It's only 90 minutes short but if you would had said to me afterward it's a hour longer, I would had believed it as well.

But there definitely is plenty of potential in this series, as long as it keeps building on its characters and perhaps the next times feature a bit of a smaller and more humble type of plot, that's not only just easier but also more involving to follow.

7/10

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