Directed by Craig Lahiff
Starring Robert Carlyle, Charles Dance
Australia
2002
Seen on Netflix
Recreation of the landmark 1958 South Australian Court trial of young aboriginal Max Stuart who was accused of the rape and murder of a young girl in the remote small seaside town of Ceduna, South Australia.
Well-intentioned film about the notorious Stuart case. Trying too hard to make the bad guys look really bad, the screenplay starts to feel manipulative, lessening the overall impact of the film. Good performances from Robert Carlyle and Kerry Fox as the defending lawyers. Charles Dance does his cold calculating privileged prosecution lawyer efficiently but he does too many of these types of characters.
There was 'Spot the Locations' fun for me, as I grew up in Adelaide South Australia. The story about the plight of this Aboriginal man who came close to being hanged is compelling and should be better known. It's just the screenplay that I have reservations about.
