Review of Beautiful Kate (2009) by Sean F — 30 Jul 2010

Plenty of meat for the actors to chew over here: Brown gets to do that old thespian standby monstrous indifference, Mendelsohn to suggest a soul as generally crumpled and torn as a discarded first draft.

The flaw is one of design. With the civilising presences (Griffiths's matter-of-fact sis, Dermody's teasing saucepot) rather too conveniently spirited away offscreen, the focus narrows: we're left watching two old rams - a father and a son - butting their heads together, with only flashbacks to Ned's formative years to break up the monotony, and some of these rather resemble ads for an incest-fragranced fabric conditioner.

Ward establishes a langorous mood, and sets out a persuasive sense of place, but the ending is softer than Tennessee Williams (one apparent influence here) would have allowed, letting at least one character too many off the hook.