Review of Oyster Farmer (2004) by Walter M — 01 Apr 2011

"Oyster Farmer" starts with Jack(Alex O'Loughlin) giving a ride to Pearl(Diana Glenn) in his boat, making him late for work at the oyster farm run by Brownie(David Field). Aside from Brownie's dad(Jim Norton), Jack is about the only employee. Well, there might have been more if Brownie's wife Trish(Kerry Armstrong) had not left him. To be honest, it is not the job that attracted Jack to the area, but to be close to his sister Nikki(Claudia Harrison) who is recuperating at a local hospital from a car accident. However, the hospital stay is getting expensive and the insurance is running out, so Jack does the only sensible thing and robs an armored truck...

"Oyster Farmer" is a sweet, gentle and meandering slice of life movie, set in a place where a good day's work is valued above most everything else which fits in well with what they used to say about best laid plans. Due to the men finding the work of oyster farming so difficult, a certain machismo erupts in the area.(It is hard to make a case for the area being a backwaters when it is so scenic.) That keeps women away emotionally and physically which costs the men in more ways than one. For example, Trish is a lot smarter than her estranged husband gives her credit for.