Lantana Movie Review 2001

This impressive Aussie thriller starts off as a seemingly straightforward murder mystery, but that's only the jumping-off point. The burned-out cop, Leon (LaPaglia) investigating the murder, is cheating on his wife with a woman, Jane (Blke), who may know something about the case. His wife is consulting a psychiatrist, Valerie (Hershey), whose marriage to John (Rush) has been damaged by the murder of their 11-year-old daughter. John may also be having a homosexual affair with one of his wife's patients. Jane's neighbors, Nik (Colosimo) and Paula (Farinacci) seem like the only happy ones in the mix, but they, too, are touched by the mystery. LaPaglia stands out in a brilliant cast, and the deep character studies and attention to detail add dimension to what could have been a standard whodunit.

Distribution

CinemaNow, 4553 Glencoe Ave., Ste. 200, Marina Del Rey, CA 90292, URL: http://www.cinemanow.com, Remarks: Formerly known as Lions Gate Home Entertainment

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 120 minutes.
Originally from Australian.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Police Detectives, Shrinks, Marriage, Adultery, Down Under, Adapted from a Play

Screenplay

Andrew Bovell

Cast

Anthony LaPaglia, Kerry Armstrong, Geoffrey Rush, Barbara Hershey, Rachael Blake, Vince Colosimo, Peter Phelps, Daniela Farinacci, Leah Purcell, Glenn Robbins

Cinematography

Mandy Walker

Director

Ray Lawrence

Music

Paul Kelly

Other

Andrew Plain, Karl Soderstein, Tony Campbell, Margot Wilson, Kim Buddee

Producer

Jan Chapman, Australian Film Finance Corp., Lions Gate Films

Awards

Australian Film Inst. 2001: Actor (LaPaglia), Actress (Armstrong), Adapt. Screenplay, Director (Lawrence), Film, Support. Actor (Colosimo), Support. Actress (Blake).