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Shadows Of The Past (Film)
Rating: PG
Running Time: 104
Country: Australia
Director: Warren Ryan
Cast: Jordana Allen, Phil Hearn, Sally Kelleher, Marcus Pointon, Cassie Ryan
Distributor: Summer Night Productions
Film Worth: $9.00
Release Date: May 14, 2009 (NSW), June (South Australia)
“…watchable.”
If this were film noir from the forties, the title would not set off alarm bells. But this being 2009, it does. And justifiably so. There are likeable characters in Shadows Of The Past, and a reasonable dose of drama and relationship inter-dynamics, but the largely stiff performances give it a low budget telemovie aura - it's like something you may catch on Saturday afternoon TV during the non-ratings period. Like a lot of Saturday arvo fare, it's watchable.
Set in the township of Warwick, Queensland, the film is about a former rodeo star, Steve Kelly (Marcus Pointon), who was badly injured by a particularly hard-headed bull called Black Friday some years back. He lives on a property with his daughter, Katie (Cassie Ryan), and partner, Krystal (Sally Kelleher), but things get complicated when his estranged wife, Dannii (Jordanna Allen) returns...and when he's given the life-threatening chance to ride the bucking beast Black Friday again.
The bulls look utterly tortured, but the filmmakers do capture the excitement and danger of the rodeo, as well as plenty of conflict between the characters. While Allen and teen actress Ryan put in fairly convincing performances, they're let down by the rest of the cast (which includes country music star Tania Kernaghan - who should not give up her day job). In the key role of Steve, Pointon is below average, yet his "good Aussie bloke" persona is something that can be related to.
Visually unspectacular and suffocating in a low quality country music soundtrack, Shadows Of The Past is loaded with poor performances and cliches. Yet there's still something pleasantly warm and fuzzy about these people - you'll care just enough about them to sit through to the predictable end.