Jindabyne

That Jindabyne is based on a short story comes as absolutely no surprise, as the film feels as though it’s been needlessly padded out to achieve a longer running time (at 123 minutes, there’s simply no denying that the movie is far longer than it has any right to be). Starring Gabriel Byrne and Laura Linney, Jindabyne follows four men who – while out on a fishing weekend in the country – come upon a dead body and elect to carry on with their trip rather than report the corpse. This doesn’t sit well with their friends and family – nor their community at large – and the men soon find themselves forced to justify their actions. It’s an awfully ridiculous premise, and although it’s entirely possible that it worked within the context of Raymond Carver’s short story, the movie generally comes off as an overwrought and flat-out silly piece of work. Screenwriter Beatrix Christian attempts to compensate for the lack of content within Carver’s 24-page story by throwing in a whole host of needless subplots, including countless sequences in which two children with sociopathic tendencies harass each other and whoever else happens to be nearby. It’s a shame, really, given the effectiveness of Ray Lawrence’s directorial choices and the uniformly stellar cast.

** out of ****