by Annette Basile
Worth: $12.50
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Tahlee Fereday, David Burnstock, Miles Rubae
Intro:
… challenges racial stereotypes, and its characters are fleshed out and free of cliché.
Melbourne, Christmas Eve. Kit Jones (Tahlee Fereday) is a First Nations rookie cop on her first day on the beat. Syl Connor (David Burnstock) is her senior partner. The pair are both ‘good cops’ who become involved with Waheed (Miles Rubae), a 17-year-old who is loving but troubled.
Blue Canaries begins with Kit and Syl in a tense stand-off with Waheed, who’s armed – a lifeless body lying on the floor nearby. It then rewinds to the events that led up to the stand-off, which include Waheed running off with money that his mother, Suha (Maria Abbas) says is for the rent. Syl – more like a social worker than a cop – has tried to help the family, and he and Kit search for Waheed, suspecting that he’s in real trouble…
The first feature from writing/directing team Andy Lane and Luke Mounsey (with Veronica Gorrie – a Gunai woman and former policewoman – as script consultant) is a mixed bag. Based on true police tales told to the directors by a friend who worked on the beat for two decades, it has a great noir-ish atmosphere as the officers drive through neon-lit Melbourne, plus a few truly tense, dramatic scenes.
But this tension is broken by scenes that meander. The story itself is good, and the hip-hop soundtrack adds to the atmosphere, but in an attempt to make the dialogue ring true, Lane and Mounsey have overused vernacular and slang to the point that it feels forced, getting in the way of the narrative. Also interrupting the narrative is an unnecessary subplot involving Kit’s other life as an AFLW footballer and a dirty tackle that got her in trouble.
Blue Canaries does get a few things right – it challenges racial stereotypes, and its characters are fleshed out and free of cliché. The lead performances are also impressive and realistic. Its main problem is that it just doesn’t keep up the tension, unlike other Aussie crime thrillers such as The Stranger. Blue Canaries also lacks the grit of other Melbourne crime tales, such as Animal Kingdom or TV’s Underbelly.
Despite the film’s bumpy pacing, Blue Canaries comes into its own in the third act, ending on such a powerful note that it helps you to forgive its shortcomings.
Available for Rental and Purchase on Digital VOD platforms: Apple TV: https://tv.apple.com/au/movie/blue-canaries/umc.cmc.5sdzdu8y4qpytj4m5v4jiolzp
YouTube: https://youtu.be/LI-wl7ckHmk
Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/bluecanaries
Google: https://play.google.com/store/movies/details?id=uILJ336JMXk.P
Microsoft Store: https://www.microsoft.com/en-au/p/blue-canaries/8d6kgwxx0pkz
