THE WAITING CITY

Ma'sView:

I was very happy that we got free tickets to this movie and that we went to see Hedgehog before it so our outing was not entirely wasted!  That is perhaps a bit harsh but it is hard to find good things to say about this movie which is basically a soapie story set in India.  Certainly the Indian background is exotic and evocative with all the mystery and spiritualism the culture engenders in visiting Aussies.  Director, Claire McCarthy, evidently knew her stuff in this area but not so, on the international adoption scene.  For starters, this mismatched couple would never have passed the stringent and invasive investigation that adoptive parents face just to be considered - i.e  of their relationship (very shakey), job situation (she is a workaholic lawyer and he is an ex-muso with no visible means of support) and medical history (he has suffered from depression and has a history of taking drugs!).  On top of which they are doing it for the wrong reason - to bolster up their faltering relationship.  It is not enough to express some pretty facile sentiments on video cam (to show baby later), you actually have to have something to offer as a person.  Unfortunately, neither of the main characters really won our hearts and minds from the start.  Radha Mitchell, as the mother to be, is lovely to look at and the costume department took full advantage of this.  She certainly has heaps more potential than Joel Edgerton, her screen husband, whose performance was only adequate.  Then there was the plot which simply see-sawed between their on-again, off-again relationship and the frustrating delay in actually making contact with their baby.  This gave the director every opportunity to show as many aspects as possible of Indian culture - shrines, street processions, water rituals, funeral rites, a wedding as well as lost baggage, diarrhoea, snakes and garbage - it was all there.  For a moment, I thought there was going to be some cultural clash when their Indian friend, played very well by Samrat Chakrabarti, suggested that only the gods could decree that a woman become a mother, implying disapproval of the adoption process... but this was never pursued.


I am sure there will be people who will love this movie but I'm sorry to say that it just did not reach me!


My Score:  6/10

Pepe's View:

I totally agree - although I think Ma is being a little generous.  Australians make some very good movies when we focus on stories about real people, events or places.  We make very bad movies when we simply try to copy the American film culture.  This film I feel is trying to capture the cinema going audiences who love a good soapie but I am afraid it won't even interest this audience.  For a start, the movie is too long - way too long.  It isn't actually any longer than most, but it certainly feels like it as the director has tried to show every aspect of Indian culture.  One very great concern I had with the movie was the mostly derogatory way India was portrayed - lost lugggage and the Indian official simply says in reply to entreaties for him to do something " This is India".  Joel Edgerton gets "jelly belly" as soon as he arrives (incidentally his wife doesn't ), they are almost attacked by a snake, and  there are lots of shots of ugliness and dirt especially in the country.  A travelogue encouraging us to visit India it isn't!
Radha Mitchell , the leading lady, although losing her luggage, always seemed to have plenty of attractive outfits to wear - she was obviously cast as the eye candy  - and never had a hair out of place.   Joel Edgerton as the weak "hippy" husband also failed to convince.  For this plot to work we had to actually care about these people and their desire for a child but unfortunately I could not wait for it to be over.  There were so many threads which could have been explored but weren't and of course it ended happily ever after.

The best part of the movie - the free tickets.

My Score:  4/10