Jindabyne

Name: Jindabyne
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Crime
Released: April 27, 2007
Duration: 123 min
Rating: 65
Cast: Gabriel Byrne, John Howard, Laura Linney, Simon Stone, Stelios Yiakmis

2007

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 30 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 16 Ratings

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5.9

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5.9	User Score Mixed or average reviews based on 16 Ratings

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Jindabyne

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Movie Details & Credits

Sony Pictures Classics | Release Date: April 27, 2007 | R

Starring: Gabriel Byrne, John Howard, Laura Linney, Simon Stone, Stelios Yiakmis

Summary: Adapted from a short story by Raymond Carver, this film centers around the discovery of a woman's dead body by a group of men on a fishing trip.

Director: Ray Lawrence

Genre(s): Drama, Mystery, Thriller, Crime

Rating: R

Runtime: 123 min

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Critic Reviews

TV Guide Magazine Ken Fox

Lawrence delves deep into the moral dilemma at the heart of Carver's deceptively simple tale. By deliberately making the young woman in the river aboriginal, the film also opens up yet another dimension in the reaction to the men's inaction: Would they have acted any differently had the murder victim been white? Read full review

Kenneth Turan

Jindabyne's strength and power come from a number of factors: its origin, its current landscape and the unusual way its writer-director, Ray Lawrence, has chosen to work. Read full review

Peter Rainer

Writer-director Ray Lawrence, well regarded for his two previous films, "Bliss" and "Lantana," expands Carver's work into an indictment of colonialism and an examination of the chasm that supposedly exists between men and women over matters of the heart. Read full review

J.R. Jones

Too many extraneous elements have been added--the victim here is an aborigine, which prompts a racial backlash against the men and their families--but at the movie's center lies the knotty story of a marriage poisoned by amorality. Read full review

J. Hoberman

Hand it to Lawrence and Christian. Jindabyne is a soberly, if sluggishly, crafted movie in which the bitterness never stops. Read full review

Rick Groen

Adapting a great short story, like Carver's "So Much Water So Close to Home," into a movie poses a dilemma: How to flesh it out to feature length without destroying what made it great in the first place? Read full review

Kyle Smith

A depressing and tedious movie. Read full review

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User Reviews

Aug 7, 2007

A lovely take on ambivalence and the delicate balance among human beings. Linney and Byrne, and the child actors, are excellent and the setting is often spectacular. Although at times it seemed a little long, I would readily watch it over again.

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Crossoverman

Apr 23, 2007

One of the great Australian films of all time. This fleshes out Raymond Carver's story in a complex and complicated way, layering in themes of race and childhood amongst the very strong story about men and women and how they deal with emotion. Incredible.

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MichaelL.

May 19, 2007

A deeply compelling yet deceptively disturbing meditation on the uncertain morality that can reside in all of us when confronted with a situation of unordinary and horrendous proportions. It's "What would you do?" plotline builds to a quietly powerful climax that had me paralyzed in A deeply compelling yet deceptively disturbing meditation on the uncertain morality that can reside in all of us when confronted with a situation of unordinary and horrendous proportions. It's "What would you do?" plotline builds to a quietly powerful climax that had me paralyzed in the darkened theater long after the closing title sequence had ended.… Expand

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MichaelE.

Jun 15, 2007

First the good: we get a typically strong performance by Laura Linney . Some of the scenes are good, but it takes most of the movie before we get anything like a sense of drama between the chaarcters. I've seen some people complain about the photography (all in natural light), but that First the good: we get a typically strong performance by Laura Linney . Some of the scenes are good, but it takes most of the movie before we get anything like a sense of drama between the chaarcters. I've seen some people complain about the photography (all in natural light), but that is actually one of the film's true charms. The subplot about racism is heavy-handed and obvious, a far deviation from the Carver source material that hurts the story instead of adding to it. The film has to be jammed with padding to make a full two hours and some of this padding, like the lingering shots of the Australian countryside (which could be interpreted as sentimental, also working against the film's points) is painfully obvious. Jindabyne certainly does not compare favorably with the version in Robert Altman's Short Cuts from 13 years ago. Some of the scenes exist in both versions, and those analog scenes in Jindabyne are far too similar to the original. Somehow I doubt we'll be talking about this one in a year.… Expand

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BillS.

Jun 1, 2007

I'm afraid I have to disagree with the previous contributors. Lantana was a grown-up tale of how tragedy can result from credible people making plausible decisions. This, on the other hand, was about caricatures (repressed Irish boozehound? Neurotic world-citizen?) making I'm afraid I have to disagree with the previous contributors. Lantana was a grown-up tale of how tragedy can result from credible people making plausible decisions. This, on the other hand, was about caricatures (repressed Irish boozehound? Neurotic world-citizen?) making unrecognisable choices. Sadly, as a result neither characters nor situation provoke empathy. The richness of the camerawork almost justifies the languorous pacing, but ultimately a stronger script would have been needed to avoid a sense of self-indulgence. I have no issue with the murderer simply being used for exposition, but in that case I should not have to watch him eating breakfast. For an intelligent (and entertaining) view of the complexities of human interaction, The Lives of Others was a vastly superior offering this year.… Expand

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