Worth: $14.00
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Cast:
Barry Pepper, Jamie Costa, Sam Neill, Rachel Griffiths, Zac Garred
Intro:
This is the kind of story that could easily be misinterpreted as an exercise of macho posturing, where everyone eats broken glass with whiskey and has a voice like a five o’clock shadow. Instead, while nebulous in some regards, Pepper and crew treat their characters with depth.
Having tackled murderous bunyips (Red Billabong) and alien invasions, twice (Occupation and Occupation: Rainfall), Australian director Luke Sparke turns his attention to America – but filmed in Queensland – for a more grounded narrative. Barry Pepper plays a rough and ready driver for mobster Veronica (Rachel Griffiths). Laying low after a recent heist, our protagonist is summoned to bring one of the heist members (Jamie Costa) to Veronica, no questions asked. Knowing it’s better to shout ‘how high?’ when told to jump, Pepper’s driver does so, with a little reluctance, despite there being a cash reward at the other end for him.
Sparke makes it quick for us to empathise with Costa’s passenger, introducing him as a wide-eyed father figure who has slipped into crime as a way to support his daughter. While he’s not shy about a bit of theft, it’s clear that he doesn’t have the years of regret and bad decision making that have led Pepper’s Driver to where he is.
Through a number of phone calls over their journey, the Driver learns that his passenger is the prime suspect for stealing $25,000 from the aforementioned heist. And it’s clear that Veronica and her boys want to do a touch more than have a chat with him. So, in essence, the Driver now has a man’s life in his hands. He could do the morally right thing and tell his cargo to get the hell out of Dodge, but to do so, will lead to losing his share of the heist and potentially facing a price on his head as well.
As the two men make their way towards Veronica, the film cuts back to the heist, in which they robbed a powerful and violent man by the name of Frank (Sam Neill). Having been let in on the fact that money has gone missing, Sparke’s flashbacks give the audience something extra to chew on as they look for hints and clues towards Costa’s supposed guilt. For his part, Neill appears to be having a whale of a time in what is essentially an extended cameo. Grinding his teeth, he spits that anyone who robs him doesn’t live long enough to spend the cash, and by god, you believe him.
The rest of cast is equally strong as they help the script from British screenwriter Tom Evans from not hurtling towards too many gangster cliches. This is the kind of story that could easily be misinterpreted into an exercise of macho posturing, where everyone eats broken glass with whiskey and has a voice like a five o’clock shadow. Instead, while nebulous in some regards, Pepper and crew treat their characters with depth.
Having given the audience a trail of narrative breadcrumbs to follow, Sparke and Evans serve up a third act that will not go where some will expect. However, while a few may throw their hands up in the air at their decisions, the denouement fits in perfectly with the world we’re presented with.
Bring Him to Me is a morally grey film where there is no anti-hero or chaotic good hero, it’s just a bunch of people making bad decisions that further cement their place in a life they likely wouldn’t pick if given a choice.
