by Julian Wood
Worth: $17.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Leila George, Sam Corlett, Greta Scacchi
Intro:
… comes straight from the heart.
Addiction is a scary thing. It can take over people and turn their personality inside out, so that the kindest, most sympathetic person can do the cruellest, most destructive things. One suspects that the filmmakers here have been touched by this in their personal life as this powerful little film debut from Western Australia feels like it comes straight from the heart.
Director David Vincent Smith (who also wrote the screenplay) has assembled a small but well-chosen cast. In a way, it is a three-hander. The female lead is Jade (played by Leila George), who is the big sister to Max (Sam Corlett), whose backstory is driven by an uncontrolled addiction that we soon learn about.
Right now, Jade is hell bent on making one last intervention to rescue Max. However, things get increasingly desperate when she actually puts her plan into action. Complicating things is their weak but sincere mother Bev (Greta Scacchi).
Scacchi is the biggest name in the cast, but she doesn’t hog the limelight. Instead, she anchors the film with her unselfconscious and naturalistic portrayal of a slightly beaten down middle aged woman.
Jade feels that Bev has always confused being kind to Max with actually helping him, and she believe that she will have to take decisive action on behalf of Max without really telling her mother in advance.
The chemistry between George and Scacchi is totally believable here and it is perhaps not hampered by the fact that they are mother and daughter in real life. Corlett’s role is the showiest; he has to really ‘go there’ as a screwed up self-destructive person on the brink of mania. His scabby, scratchy persona convincingly gets the junkie vibe from the get-go, but he also has to hint at the inner child that was once tender and connected. That light shines through the cracks in his otherwise dark world.
The film’s set ups are simple but effective, and despite a couple of unlikely moments, the forward momentum builds well. We definitely feel what a nightmarish ride this is for all involved.
With a film like He Ain’t Heavy, it is all about the quality of the script and the acting, and in these departments, the film doesn’t disappoint, making this a notable debut that will be remembered.