There are a lot of really great Australian films coming out of this year’s Festival, many of them from first time or emerging talents. Among this new class is the film Last Ride from filmmaker Glendyn Ivin, which will be notable because it stars the once and former Agent Smith, Hugo Weaving. The good news is that Last Ride is an impeccably made film with lush photography and some rather excellent performances by a Weaving and newcomer Tom Russell. On the other hand, there’s a cliché ridden script governing the action, as another story about being on the run from Johnny Law is fraught with grey shades and nearly redeemable characters.
Weaving plays Kev, a felon with an ugly history in the criminal justice system. He’s on the run with his son, Chook, for reasons that are gradually filled in as the film wears on. Scrounging on the fringes for food, money, shelter and easy ways out of town, Kev and Chook move from one place to another as swiftly and as quietly as possible, using whatever resources they can. They’re tested on the road, the boy more so for being confused about his father’s actions while at the same time wanting to be a dutiful son. Kev tries to connect with his boy despite being the type of parent that’s unafraid to intimidate through abuse be it physical or leaving his son to fend for himself in the middle of nowhere to teach him a lesson.
Weaving as a lanky example of the Australian equivalent of white trash is easily intimidating, but you also get that there’s something good there too. Several scenes show a father and son bonding, and you forget for a moment that they’re trying to stay one step ahead of the police because Kev might be a murderer. You’re caught between dual thoughts that maybe he can be a good guy and raise his boy right despite being an outlaw, but Kev constantly undermines himself through his actions. The dual quality is interesting although you’re not exactly sure what you want to root for.
Last Ride likes to play games of moral ambivalence, but it uses a rule book borrowed from other films and stories. Add to that a felling of the story being dragged out for the sake of length. This film could easily be slimmed down by anywhere between 20 minutes and hour and you wouldn’t loose much but some pretty Aussie scenery and a couple of father/son disagreements of varying severity. Sometimes Last Ride feels played out, and in others it’s almost deeply enthralling. There’s an interesting discord, and I’m not exactly sure which way it’s going to go from one moment to the next. Sometimes the movie is great and other times it tests. It’s one of those things I’ll leave to the viewer to decide if what we have hear is failure to communicate or if Last Ride is really just half a movie.
