The Dressmaker (2015/I) was co-written and directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse. It stars Kate Winslet as Tilly Dunnage, who has returned to rural Australia from Paris to care for her ailing mother, Molly (Judy Davis). We know from the first scene that Tilly is out for revenge. What it is that she needs to revenge, and how she goes about achieving revenge, is at the heart of the plot.
Although, naturally, the acting of the two leads was excellent, the movie just didn't work for me. For one thing, it's too long. We get a climactic scene, and then some flashbacks, then another climactic scene, and more flashbacks. After 90 minutes I was ready for the movie to end. No luck--it was a big-budget film, and they were going to show it to us for two hours. (Kate Winslet doesn't give her talent away, and if she's starring in your movie, you may as well make sure that she has plenty of screen time.)
The supporting cast was strong. Maybe, in the 1950's, people in rural Australia were as stereotypically horrible as the people in this town were portrayed. Maybe someone could return from France and wreak revenge on everyone. Or, then again, maybe not.
We saw this film at the excellent Little Theatre in Rochester, NY. It will work almost as well on the small screen, although you won't appreciate the vast, empty countryside as well as you would in a theater. IMDb reviewers have given this film a rating of 7.1, and I agree with that level as appropriate. The Dressmaker isn't bad, but it's not great either.
Although, naturally, the acting of the two leads was excellent, the movie just didn't work for me. For one thing, it's too long. We get a climactic scene, and then some flashbacks, then another climactic scene, and more flashbacks. After 90 minutes I was ready for the movie to end. No luck--it was a big-budget film, and they were going to show it to us for two hours. (Kate Winslet doesn't give her talent away, and if she's starring in your movie, you may as well make sure that she has plenty of screen time.)
The supporting cast was strong. Maybe, in the 1950's, people in rural Australia were as stereotypically horrible as the people in this town were portrayed. Maybe someone could return from France and wreak revenge on everyone. Or, then again, maybe not.
We saw this film at the excellent Little Theatre in Rochester, NY. It will work almost as well on the small screen, although you won't appreciate the vast, empty countryside as well as you would in a theater. IMDb reviewers have given this film a rating of 7.1, and I agree with that level as appropriate. The Dressmaker isn't bad, but it's not great either.