Like last year's Bright Star, Somersault sees the luminous Abbie Cornish steal every scene in a neatly framed, well-meaning, but vapid love story. This Heidi is no Fanny though; she's shy and desperate to feel wanted, and emotional security above romance is the order of the day. She obviously sees something similarly fragile in Sam Worthington's Joe. It's just a pity that Worthington the actor hasn't the subtlety to convince us of this hidden sensitivity; his shifts in mood come across as minor Hulk moments. He even has a Lou Ferrigno mullet.
The plotting itself is fine, but the dialogue is often flat and feels very 'written': lots of unlikely, monosyllabic, stabbing exchanges, which tend to undermine the chilly rawness of the film's photography and themes.
There's a bleak spine of truth running through Cate Shortland's debut feature, and many well-observed scenes. But ultimately it comes off as a kind of STI-free rendition of Lilya-4-Ever.
The plotting itself is fine, but the dialogue is often flat and feels very 'written': lots of unlikely, monosyllabic, stabbing exchanges, which tend to undermine the chilly rawness of the film's photography and themes.
There's a bleak spine of truth running through Cate Shortland's debut feature, and many well-observed scenes. But ultimately it comes off as a kind of STI-free rendition of Lilya-4-Ever.