Red Dog: True Blue

This review may contain spoilers!

This film has a real good story about a boy and his dog, yet any part of the film without a focus on the dog suffers. I would give Red Dog: True Blue a 6.5/10.

This film did a really good job of portraying Mick's sense of loss and loneliness after the death of his father and being separated from his mother, this young kid is displaced and looking for somewhere to belong. His relationship with his Grandpa is uneasy at first and it's only the introduction of Blue (later to be Red Dog) that helps him find his place upon the Australian homestead. It's a simple story about the relationship between boy and dog but a rather important one at that, even delving into some Aboriginal mythology to provide a sense of mysticism to the narrative. The cinematography actually looks really nice and even boasts some clever framing, shots of Mick and Blue observing the bush fire or Blue chasing Mick in the helicopter are very memorable. The editing is a bit of a subtle triumph, managing to use some very classic fades to provide a seamless motion between scenes. The soundtrack is a bit of fun and provides some easily recognisable classics; yet it's the poignant score that hits home in the more emotional moments of the film.

Bryan Brown, who played Grandpa, is a very gruff character at first set in his ways and a reminder of an older Australia; Brown makes his character likeable and a begrudgingly kind figure throughout this film. John Jarratt, who played Lang Hancock, could have been quite a forgettable role if not for the amount of energy and drive Jarratt put into his performance; I really enjoyed the chemistry he shared with Brown in their scenes together. Justine Clarke, Zen McGrath and Winta McGrath, who played Diane Carter, Theo Carter and Nicholas Carter respectively, all really helped introduce this film well; they shared great chemistry with Isaacs and fostered the presentation of the main narrative superbly. Calen Tassone, who played Taylor Pete, managed to provide a fair voice for the aboriginal perspective in this film (even if the narrative didn't focus there much); I especially enjoyed Tassone's delivery about the Dreamtime and spirit who lived within the cave Miller's role discovered.

However the best performance came from Jason Isaacs, who played Michael Carter. Isaacs created a very stern busybody who felt closed off to his family at the start of the film, which was important to watch as he eventually broke the character down to a more vulnerable position throughout. The way Isaacs presented the main narrative showed attention to deal and commitment to a role as a storyteller, often moving the audience before they'd even seen the scenes about to be displayed. This is a role which goes through a journey in the same way his younger counterpart does and it's great to see how close he grows with his family by the end of the film.

This film did suffer when Blue wasn't onscreen, sometimes feeling like it was happy spending time on subplots without settling on a satisfying conclusion to the main narrative; as such the film moved to a slow pacing from time to time. The film also presents a sort of indifference to it's aboriginal characters, gay characters a re mishandled, corporal punishment is unabashedly presented and for a great deal of the plot the eleven year old protagonist's main focus is romantically pursuing his young teacher. These choices show a script out of touch with the current viewing audience which really damages the film's tone.

Levi Miller, who played Mick, makes for a pretty lousy protagonist; his line delivery is stilted and you feel like he is performing. Hanna Mangan Lawrence, who played Betty, is delegated to little more than the token young woman for the men to ogle; Lawrence's role is never really developed and she just seems like some prize to be won by the male characters. Thomas Cocquerel, who played Stemple, was a really weird antagonist in this film; the fact he ramped up the intensity of the 'love triangle' counted against him quite a bit. Steve Le Marquand and Syd Brisbane, who played Little John and Big John respectively, were crafted to be little more than the film's token gay characters and this aspect of them was explored poorly; the film seemed almost embarrassed to have them there which counted against itself in a big way. Kee Chan, who played Jimmy Umbrella, was a pretty awkward slapstick character; Chan was merely present to provide a cheap laugh but failed to serve the plot in any other capacity. Kelton Pell and Josie Alec, who played Durack and Abby respectively, had a lot of potential to provide an aboriginal perspective but lacked the attention needed to do this; ultimately it felt like these two were background roles to fill space in various scenes.