Review of Beautiful Kate (2009) by John L — 10 Dec 2009

Make no mistake this movie will disturb you. The Kendall's, being the very definition of a dysfunctional family, have more skeletons in their closet than your average cemetery. Yet although there are quite a few uncomfortable moments in the movie especially centring around Ned and Kate's relationship, as bother and sister; as twins; as children of a hard unrelenting (and seeming unfeeling) father; and as young people discovering their sexuality and how it effects them both, this movie does not deny the audience redemption. As Ned is forced to confront his father he is also forced to confront what happened that night two decades earlier. Finally admitting his own role in the tragedy that tore the family apart the fractured family is able to heal some old wounds.

The acting is some of the greatest I have ever seen in any movie, Aussie or not. Bryan Brown and Ben Mendelsohn while delivering huge performances as father and son locked in a 2 decade long battle do not steal the screen as Rachel Griffiths and Sophie Lowe give impassioned performances as the sisters, one lost to time the other lost to the background. But of all the characters the one that gives the greatest performance has no lines, the Flinders Ranges. The desolate isolation of the location gives a harsh but much needed truth to the movie giving the audience a reason to believe that this family and their secrets could actually happen.

Although it has been over three months since I have seen it this movie still stays with me, not for its disturbing themes but for the redemption of the father and son and the eventual rediscovery of a long forgotten sister. A great movie that will stay with you for a long, long time.