Dir. Rod Hardy, Aus/UK/US, 2007, 105 mins
Genre: Drama
Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Teresa Palmer, Lee Cormie, Jack Thompson
Review by Carol Allen
Young actor Daniel Radcliffe is growing up fast. Having had his first screen kiss in the last Harry Potter movie and made his live theatre debut on the London stage in "Equus", where he famously had to get his kit off, he now has his first movie sex scene.
For Radcliffe's character Maps this is a coming of age movie, but he shares the young acting honours with Palmer, as his love interest Lucy, and an endearing bespectacled child, Lee Cormie as Misty. Maps and Misty, along with Spark (Christian Byers) and Spit (James Fraser) are four orphans being raised in a strict Catholic orphanage in South Australia in the sixties. As they all have December birthdays they are chosen for a special Christmas/birthday treat - a summer holiday at the beach house home of retired naval officer Bandy McNash (Thompson) and his wife (Kris McQuade). In the course of their stay it emerges that the McNash's young neighbours are planning to adopt one of the boys, who then start competing for attention and the prize of being back in a proper home and a proper family.
The adoption theme is established in the opening shots, as the boys are all lined up like contestants in a beauty contest as a pair of prospective parents make their choice. Misty's endearing “please choose me” smile and his crashing disappointment when he's not chosen are heartbreaking. The coming of age theme and that of the formative childhood experience, which is what the story is for Misty, are both well worn movie territory, but the treatment and setting of them is refreshingly different here. There is a strong surrogate family affection among the four boys, which is tested by the adoption "competition". It is particularly strong between Maps and Misty with the older boy looking after the younger one. Maps' teen romance with local girl Lucy (Palmer), with whom he hangs out in her secret cave listening to pop music on her portable record player and sharing confidences, has the truthful ring of that first youthful love affair and the sex scene is appropriately and delicately handled. It's a good choice of role for Radcliffe in his first non Harry Potter film, as it gives him plenty of opportunities without him having to carry the whole film, while his presence in the movie will probably gain a wider audience for Hardy's film than in might otherwise have found.
The supporting adults are all strong, including Sullivan Stapleton and Victoria Hill as the prospective adopters, who cannot have children of their own. The film is particularly good at evoking rural Australia of the period, a very different world from "swinging" Britain of that time. It's a simple life of hard work, old fashioned values and few luxuries apart from the beauty of the ocean and the beach. The outback and the coast make a stunning background to the story and the scene where the boys experience the sea for the first time will lift your heart.
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