Movielogr

Rating: 6.5 stars

All movies seen on 06/06/2011

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Red Hill (2010)

Directed by Patrick Hughes

Thriller

Most recently watched by seanCduregger, sleestakk, noahphex

Overview

Young police officer Shane Cooper’s first day on duty, after relocating to the small town of Red Hill, rapidly turns into a nightmare. News of a prison break, involving convicted murderer Jimmy Conway, sends the local law enforcement officers - led by the town’s ruling presence, Old Bill - into a panic and leads to a terrifying and bloody confrontation.

Rated R | Length 97 minutes

Actors

Ryan Kwanten | Steve Bisley | Tom E. Lewis | Claire van der Boom | Christopher Davis | Kevin Harrington | Richard Sutherland | Ken Radley | John Brumpton | Cliff Ellen | Jim Daly | Dom Phelan | Eddie Baroo | Tim Hughes | Ken Connley | Yesse Spence

Viewing History (seen 1 time)

Viewing Notes

Red Hill is the third of three solid Australian movies I’ve seen this year (the other two being Animal Kingdom and The Square). I didn’t like this nearly as much as I wanted to; it felt too heavy handed with the melodrama, which kept it from being as taught a thriller as it yearned to be.

This is director Patrick Hughes’ first full-length feature, and as such it’s a solid effort. I expect we’ll be seeing more from this man.

After watching about a third of the movie, my first comment on Twitter was “so far everyone in this is either a fucking coward, a bad shot, or both.” I didn’t know how prescient that comment would be! It’s also really your major clue that everything here isn’t as it seems to be.

Worth watching, for sure, but easily the weakest of the three above-mentioned movies. If you’re going to explore them, I’d recommend doing them in the order I mention them, saving Red Hill for last.

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