User reviews

"Mystery Road" is a thriller (with film noir overtones) and a western rolled into one. It examines race relations in modern-day Australia, in particular those between the indigenous Aboriginal population and those Australians of European descent. It does so through the eyes of Aboriginal detective Joe Swan (Aaron Pedersen), who returns after a period of 10 years away to the remote small Australian town in which his daughter Crystal (Tricia Whitton) and her mother - Swan's estranged wife, Mary (Tasma Walton) - live. Swan is immediately thrown into the investigation of the murder of a teenage Aboriginal girl, whose body has been discovered in the outskirts of the town. His investigations soon yield a great deal of uncomfortable information, including police corruption, sexual exploitation and the possible involvement in the crime of his ex-wife and daughter (as well as sundry other local residents). The laconic detective has to contend with a complete lack of co-operation from his police colleagues and from the town's residents, who view any form of authority with suspicion and utter disdain. It all leads to a closing shoot-out sequence that is, for once, realistic and which is beautifully filmed. Indeed, one of the film's many strong points is its direction (by screenplay writer Ivan Sen). The cinematography (for which Sen is also responsible) is amazingly good - just about the best I have seen in any film. The cast too are terrific, particularly Pedersen and Hugo Weaving (who plays Johnno, a possibly corrupt white police colleague of Swan's). The only aspect of the film about which I have reservations is the plot, which does not seem to me to hang together. I may have missed something but there appear to be unexplained gaps in parts of the story. Other than that, "Mystery Road", which starts slowly before gradually building up to its dramatic conclusion, is an almost faultless film - and is certainly one that is worth looking out for. 8/10.

As usual with most Australian films, the story line is very different. The casualness of the style with the weight of the film being presented by the vision, missed telling me what was happening a couple of times. Left the cinema still answering the questions asked. Did feel I needed a bit more in the way of answers given to me though. Acting was excellent , very quickly lost my expectation of known characters roles & embraced the new story rapidly. The structure of town, people & their lives were simply & beautifully presented. The use of aerials helped cement characters & culture of small outback town wonderfully, as did the simple style of presenting different cultural landscapes within the one time. Great movie, will be watching again

There is much to commend in this outback-set crime drama from director, writer and cinematographer, Ivan Sen.

The first scene sets up the whole film most deftly: its depiction of the magnitude of the land at sunset coupled with the place name, Massacre Creek, instantly makes it clear that the vastness of the Australian terrain and inglorious, largely unrepented historic events will frame what follows.

Aaron Pedersen plays the police detective Jay Swan, an Aboriginal returning from 'the city' to his small and extremely isolated home town after a 10 year absence. He is estranged from his former wife, now an alcoholic making a hash of raising their daughter, and also the community in which he was raised. Not fully accepted by the white community either, he is the classic outsider forced to go it alone.

Swan is assigned to the case of a murdered Aboriginal teenage girl whose body is found in a state of some decay quite some time after her violent end. It probably won't come as a great shock to find that the rest of the local constabulary, all white and male, are not only indifferent to the crime but hostile to its investigation, impeding Swan at every juncture. As Swan battles on uncovering corruption, drug dealing and civic sanctioned child prostitution, he starts to shed light on the town's inherent racism and misogyny – there appears to be no one in the town of any authority who is either black or female.

The film is a modern twist on the western genre: the lone lawman coming to town quietly determined to see right is done. It is the sort of role Gary Cooper, John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart all handled with ease 60 years ago. Aaron Pedersen is a worthy successor to these Hollywood greats, compelling in his restrained performance, giving just a hint of the angst beneath his calm exterior but always in control of himself. In the main, the supporting cast is also strong – especially Hugo Weaving as a police officer of dubious integrity and an alluded to murky past.

Like all classic westerns the film's denouement is a good old-fashioned shoot-out. This extended scene is particularly well handled by Sen with tight direction and camera work – although his cinematography throughout the film is praiseworthy.

The film has a few flaws. Early scene dialogue giving the backstory is rather stilted – though this quickly settled down; the minor character of a buffoonish local newspaper reporter was both unconvincing and irrelevant – it was as if Sen felt, wrongly, that his film needed a little comic relief. And I was surprised at the amount of drugs uncovered in such a very small town. I'm no expert but I'd have thought the quantity shown would be enough to supply the whole of Melbourne – including its nearby rock festivals – for a year.

Ultimately, many of the film's plot strands were left hanging which was, ostensibly, rather untidy. But on this, I'm giving Ivan Sen the benefit of the doubt. There was no neat resolution to his film or the crimes it depicts, because there is, as yet, no resolution to the social issues he raised in a non-preachy manner.

I must say that I am fascinated by the Australian outback, so this movie immediately had my attention. There have been many good Australian films to come out in recent years(The Proposition, Animal Kingdom, and Snowtown come to mind) and Mystery Road is another quality film to add to that list. With some unbelievable cinematography and good to very good acting throughout, Mystery Road was an inherently different take on the mystery genre that I quite enjoyed.

The overall tone of Mystery Road is what sets it apart from other movies of similar type. From the camera shots all the way down to the dialogue, everything is depicted with realism. There is a real awkwardness to the conversations between characters in this movie, almost like you would see in real life. While obviously still scripted, the way Ivan Sen went about depicting these scenes made for a unique perspective. From cinematographic standpoint, this film is stunning. Utilizing both top down angles of the town and low-angled sunset shots, Sen really brought the outback to life quite beautifully. This film really reminds me of the Coen Brother's No Country for Old Men, both in tone and the way the scenes were shot. Also like No Country for Old Men, Mystery Road features a soundtrack nearly devoid of music. This adds a somber, gritty feel to the already stoic nature Mystery Road portrays.

The acting in this movie is pretty fantastic throughout. Some of the supporting characters weren't as convincing, but they played a rather minor role in the overall scheme of things. This movie focuses heavily on the main character, and rightfully so, as he's a total bad-ass. You can read the synopsis above so I won't waste time here. I must say, however, that Jay Swan(played by Aaron Pedersen) is pretty enjoyable to follow as he attempts to unravel the mystery of a dead girl in his hometown. Mystery Road shines a spotlight on race relations in Australia as well, and with Jay being an aboriginal detective, he faces a lot of adversity throughout the film. It is interesting to see this as an American, since we are not often exposed to such things that happen in Australia. There always seems to be a layer of tension below the courtesy between Jay and his fellow townsmen, either due to him being an aboriginal himself or because he is a detective.

Now to the negatives, which there are a few. First, this movie starts out quite slow. I almost gave up on it as I fell asleep twice in the first 40 minutes. Had it not been for the fantastic shots of the outback and a few intriguing individuals, I may not have made it through. Things begin to pick up around the halfway mark but this will most definitely turn some people off. There are also a few plot holes, but I won't give them away as they may ruin some of the ending. Many of the characters are sadly under-developed as well, which detracts from the overall intrigue of some very interesting individuals. While Hugo Weaving was quite good and his character interesting, he role was particularly undeveloped in my humble opinion. Instead, Sen decided to focus more on Jay, which is OK for the most part, but it would have been nice to see some other characters get more screen time.

Overall, this movie offers some fantastic shots of the rural outback of Australia with an interesting plot to boot. Things do start off slow but it also, quite literally, ends with a bang. This ending is not one to miss, and has one of the most impressive gun battles I have seen perhaps ever. If you are a fan of gritty mystery movies, definitely check out Mystery Road.

This film was a pleasant surprise for me among the mass of today's Hollywood productions. The movie is a bit different in its rhythm and mood from as we are expected from its genre. It tries to combine the western and the thriller style, and I think it has succeeded.

The movie narrates a story of a lonely detective who tries to hunt down the murderer of a young girl in the remote and sparsely inhabited territory of Australia. But the movie is intended to be real, and makes a great effort in order to achieve that. It tries to show us the everyday life of a lonesome ranger in a realistic way. Thus, it could give us a totally different picture than the Hollywood action-stuffed blockbusters can provide.

We can hardly see a single gun in use throughout the whole movie, but somehow it manages to attract the attention of the audience. The newer and newer details of the crime are revealed in a nicely right pace. Sometimes, during the interrogation of a person I've already known what the detective's following question would be. But not the teeming clichés are responsible for that (because there were any), but the adequate atmosphere what the movie could have created, because it's able to involve the audience and encourage them to investigate along with the protagonist.

At the beginning I felt the fact a bit weird, that almost every single member of the town were totally unfriendly with the detective, even a few years old tiny kid, who was brave enough to announce without batting an eyelid that he'd take the detective's life. But later I realized, that I wouldn't be really happy too, if a ranger wanted to ask me a few question about a murder. However, not only these people were raw to the protagonist, but the other policeman were pretty arrogant either. We can feel the tension in almost every moment of an interrogation, because the conversations are usually interrupted with awkward silence, because the detective could hardly pull out the valuable information out of the people. That's why the dialgoues are occasionally a bit silly, but there are some moments when they're quite funky and gripping.

Nevertheless, the actors did a fine job, as far as some of them had only little opportunity to prevail on the silver screen. I admit, that it wasn't Hugo Weaving's most outstanding performance, as we could see him acting far better in the Matrix or in The Lord of the Rings. But I couldn't blame him for that, because his character was really obnoxious in this movie. I could have accused him at his first appearance on the screen, like almost any other people in the movie, except the protagonist.

We can hardly hear any music or soundtrack throughout the movie (only one or two), but it simply draws benefits from that, because the movie could create a much more depressing atmosphere int hat way. The film could perfectly visualize in front of our eyes, that the detectives don't have as fast-paced life as we could experience that in the high- budget Hollywood movie, but they are much slower, tedious, tiresome and difficult. The film owns a nearly 2 hours long runtime, thanks to the fact in part, that it has taken up the conventional towed style of the western genre. There are some moment, when we could see the characters looking at each for a quite long time period without moving or saying a word. But it had to be like this! So no worries!

If You'd like to experience a life-like investigation in a realistically implemented environment in the company of a logically built up storyline, than I can bravely recommend You this movie! Buti f You wanna see some action scenes speeding by right after other, and You don't wanna get slowed down, then this movie will not be your cup of tea.

Thanks for spending your precious free time with reading my review! Hope you liked it!

Huh! I just watched this new-to-me Australian Outback Neo-Western last night all the way through - it's a long and slow one - and never knew it preceded another new-to-me Australian Outback Neo-Western I discovered a few days ago also out of the blue online: Goldstone.

Now, I thoroughly liked Goldstone way better, and now I'm curious to revisit that one since I'm aware it's a sequel to this film. I really liked this main actor and character in both.

Admittedly, both films featuring (the GORGEOUS) Aaron Pedersen as Detective Jay Swan are incredibly slow, this one really made me feel it. Like this one was tough. Doesn't mean it wasn't good with solid acting, beautiful cinematography and sets, along with those dang Australian Outback flies again, though not as prominent here.

It's just, this time I was a whole helluva lost for the most part. It felt like they did, indeed, have a Mystery for Jay to solve, but it keep going in so many crime-filled directions, I never, ever - in fact - find out the bad guy's overall M.O. That might be just me, so you can watch this and make up your own mind. Or just get it. Frankly, I loved the feel of this movie and surroundings and the intrigue of following Jay around everywhere, I just went along for the ride.

Since few words are spoken by Jay and less understandable ones without captions on from his supporting cast, the background is questionable. Apparently, this Detective left this desert-dirt-n-drugs town in the middle of Nowhere, Outback, to work in the big city, leaving his alcoholic ex-wife and child behind. He's been gone for so long, by the time he mistakenly decides to move back "home," people have turned away from him. In all aspects.

Regardless, a truck driver coincidentally finds a dead teen girl under a highway overpass crossing and Detective Jay's on the case. Oddly alone, but he's always promised help. For the next two hours, he peels back the onion layers on the case and town. This man, again of few words, is as mesmerizing as he is good looking, so that helps since you will stay with him ALL THE WAY 'til the end...of this Mystery Road. I don't even recall more than two shots not featuring him.

I guess, knowing now that there were two movies featuring Jay, I can recommend both as a double-feature night. But, best to start early as both are deliberately slow paced. At least they saved the best of the two for last.

***

Final thoughts: I guess there was a TV series based on this movie and I might watch someday, if it's available. I just now wanna re-watch Goldstone again as I loved it so much and since I know who that Mystery Detective featured in that film is.

Update: I just rewatched Goldstone. I originally gave it 4½/5 stars and now I'm surprised I didn't give it 5/5. If you watch Mystery Road first and then Goldstone, you'll see probably one of the biggest transformations of a character from original to sequel in history. Know his background, know where he came from in the original movie and then see him here, in Goldstone, the sequel and the weight of what he became, what he endured with his daughter...and this sequel, Goldstone becomes a near masterpiece. But, again, it must be watched with Mystery Road. So, I DO recommend a double feature. Funny, tho: Mystery Road is available on Prime while Goldstone is available on Netflix. Hope you have both because they're both worth the journey.

I don't think this is the greatest film ever made, or even Ivan Sven's best, but it's definitely worth a look. You'll have to leave aside any US parochialism (the US experience of place, politics, and film convention all too often stand in as "universal" or "neutral") and accept that this film may be addressing particularly Australian experiences and expressions of place, race, and politics, even as Sven tries to frame these concerns within recognisable genre conventions. His film probably doesn't fully succeed; and like most genre films, there's some predictability and inevitability about the plot line and outcomes. However, there's an excellent central performance and - if you allow yourself to settle into the rhythm the film demands, instead of looking for satisfaction of your own particular expectations/needs - the mood of the piece is affecting. In parts, it reminds me of Wake in Fright. That it presents an Aboriginal man as the central figure - and a policeman at that - "waking in fright" as an outsider in his own town/country is worth thinking about. Is it an "authentic" representation of "the outback"? What would that be? What's "the" "outback"? How would we know it was "authentic", and who has the right to say? Is John Ford's "The Searchers" an "authentic" representation of "the West"? I'm not suggesting this is on the same level as The Searchers, but to write it off as some have on this site seems harsh. Worth a look; it may teach you something about race relations in Australia.

Why was I immediately sold on this movie? Within minutes I was hooked, and stayed with it 100% right through. That, in my case, is an immediate plus point for any movie.

So how did it get me? I guess because it struck me as believable - the characters, the places, the story. Having visited the edge of the Auz outback I fully related to the backgrounds and the characters. The texture and feel of the presentation struck me as the genuine article. I have said it before about top quality film directing - that the feel was more like a documentary with real people and not actors.

The acting was excellent but not of a fine silken quality or in any way slick. Rather the characters were raw and gritty, which could explain some review comments suggesting wooden or poor acting.

This movie felt like a fly on the wall view of the hard side of a tough life in the Australian outback, replete with huge social problems, racism, and defeated and depressed people tying to survive while drugs and crime were eating into the life of the area.

As depressing as was the setting, funny enough, I was not in the least depressed by the movie. There was a strong ethical line and I felt throughout that good would make it in the end.

This is a great movie without any big name actors, without fancy settings, without a great musical score, without great special effects, without bells or whistles of any description. It is totally minimalist art. It's greatness is in the excellent direction, the acting, the cinematography, and a decent enough plot.

Hodgepodge.

We loved the series so we figured we would give the movie a try.

Half of it is confusing the other half makes no sense.

Still have no idea who the good guys and bad guys were!

Seems like they must have shot a complete series with a coherent story and then some poor person had to edit twelve hours down to two.

A detective from a small outback settlement investigates the murder of an Aboriginal girl whose body has been found in a drain under the highway in the outskirts of town. His investigations soon reveal many dark secrets that underpin the town.

A couple of things in particular make this film really successful. Firstly, it has a compelling and deliberately developed mystery plot-line that slowly reveals its secrets; secondly, its Queensland outback location is wonderfully used to add atmosphere and depth. The Australian outback is really a very cinematic landscape, its sheer expanse and seeming endlessness can look great in a widescreen frame and the cinematography in Mystery Road shows again why. The shots of the landscape are often very beautiful. This contrasts quite jarringly with the small country town, which is entirely functional, with no beauty. We really feel the heat as well. This leads to a slowed down pace and a laid-back feel, very much in keeping with Australian life in general. This extends to the slow and deliberate way that the story-line unfolds before us.

The film looks at a few social issues that underpin the mystery story-line such as race relations, prostitution, police corruption and drug abuse. By the end, it would only be fair to say that all of the questions posed by the mystery have not been neatly answered. If anything, this works in the film's favour though as it makes you ponder events even more afterwards. What also helps is that the acting by the entire cast is very good. From the smallest support roles to the lead actors, everyone is excellent. Aaron Pederson in the lead role is particularly impressive. His measured and quiet persona is just the right tone and in keeping with the overall authenticity of proceedings. This is a film almost solely concerned with mystery mechanics at the expense of thriller elements. This, however, changes at the end where we are treated to one of the best shootouts you will see in any film. In keeping with the rest of the movie, this is a gun fight that retains its realism. It's because of this it's so interesting. It's messy and far removed from typical action movie shootouts; consequently it's far more effective. Of especial note are the long distance duels, where the delay between shots are so unusual and add considerable tension. It's an inspired ending to a very good Australian film.

The film was intriguing, the cast was very good however the plot had so many misleading elements that were never fully developed - seemed like the screenwriter could not resolve his direction. Overall a very good film but the plot needed more resolution. The cinematography adds depth to the story, especially the overhead shots. Gives viewer more insight into the differences between the social economic classes. Pedersen is a very good actor, his facial expressions move his character along, gives him emotional range that makes us believe his devotion to the job. The plot is confusing, it was as if maybe dialogue was cut, too many details needed explanation.

"Dear Heavenly Father...forgive me for Ihave sinned" are what the script writers should be saying on a nightly basis.

Let me preface my review by saying I actually liked the two TV series that came a few years after this but how the series was green lit after the debacle is anyone's guess.

Script was pretty much non-existent. Some is killed, search for the killer commences and that's about as tense as it gets. No twists, no surprises, nothing. This guy who seems bad, is bad. End of story.

Police buddy who subtly threatens the lead actor one minute, is backing him up the next. Why you ask? Who knows...it's a mystery.

The one suspicious location is in the middle of nowhere...but miraculously the baddies don't see a car parked right in the open. Why? It's a mystery.

Action? Non-existent except for the final shootout where people make literally the dumbest decisions ever.

Cover? What's that? I mean why hide behind your car when you can run into the open?

What luck, a branch. This will protect me, despite 80% of my body being exposed.

Hey, instead of ducking to avoid getting shot (from an elevated position) instead why don't I stand up, and give a sniper an even better shot.

So much walking and talking that goes nowhere:

The only mystery going on here is how people could give this tier higher than a 2.

MYSTERY ROAD is another atmospheric, well-made and well-acted Australian movie that contains bags more style and atmosphere than many a bigger-budgeted Hollywood movie. This one's set in the much-ignored Aboriginal community and a kind of poverty-row slum that will be familiar to anybody who's sat through the gruelling SNOWTOWN.

Thankfully, MYSTERY ROAD isn't anywhere near as grim as that movie, although it is a murder mystery in which young Aboriginal girls are being found with their throats slit, their bodies having been partially eaten by wild dogs. Rogue cop Aaron Pedersen is on the case, and he predictably comes up against the usual racism and conspiracies in his bid to discover the truth behind the murders.

The film as a whole has a compelling vibe and despite being slow-paced it's completely engrossing. The low-tech nature of the production gives it a naturalistic feel and the performances are excellent, particularly from the bigger names like Hugo Weaving (THE MATRIX), Damian Walshe-Howling (THE REEF), Bruce Spence (MAD MAX 2: THE ROAD WARRIOR), and Ryan Kwanten (RED HILL) who all give subdued, authentic turns.

My only real complaint is that there are so many sub-plots here that half of them don't get tied up, leaving too many loose ends at the climax. Still, the film-makers make up for this by staging a lengthy, action-packed climax that's one of the most nail-biting, realistic, and gripping that I've seen in a while.

My daughter suggested we see this film together. She told me she'd seen it and liked it but also felt like it might make more sense if she saw it again--and on a TV with captions instead of in the theater. This is because this Australian film is set in a very rural portion of Queensland, Australia and the language is very different for us. In other words, while they're speaking English, there are a lot of colloquial words and phrases she just didn't understand the first time she saw it and a few of the accents were a bit thick. I couldn't help her that much even though I spent a few weeks in Australia--this certainly didn't make me an expert on the country. Plus, all the time I was there I was in the much more cosmopolitan portions of New South Wales and Victoria. So for folks like us Americans, the film might pose a few challenges. My advice is still watch it--but try to bring along an Australian friend to help you understand everything that is occurring. Additionally, I should point out that the film is, at times, deliberately vague.

The story is about a detective investigating the murder of a young Aboriginal girl. He is himself half Aboriginal and you get the impression that this is really important in the film--but exactly how is, again, something that might help to understand if you have Australians sitting with you watching. What exactly happened to the girl is difficult, as there aren't a lot of apparent clues. And when the big confrontation at the end occurs, you STILL aren't sure who is who (especially Hugo Weaving's character). Worth seeing but confusing and worth repeated views because of this.

At the end I'm yelling at the television, 'WHAT THE...?!!!' amongst many other colourful words, but as I settled down (and took a couple of Valium) I really felt that I had watched a very different, but quality film.

I basically agree with Peter Henderson's review (from Australia) in everything he said. If you don't mind SLOW, ponderous films, then you may appreciate this one. It's just that, as a couple people here have stated, there are a few 'WTF' moments plot wise where at the end you are truly wondering what the hell just happened. Thankfully, another fellow here kind of spelled out the basic plot and story which did help a LOT! But, be that as it may, the movie has a good sense of mystery (NOT exactly in the traditional Hollywood sense) that truly draws you in and keeps you wondering what is going to happen.

I mean, I LOVE ambiguous films. David Lynch is one of my favourite directors. And, if you want to talk 'Ambiguous', all you have to do is see 'MULHOLLAND DRIVE', 'LOST HIGHWAY, or God forbid, 'INLAND EMPIRE'. BUT... and it is a VERY BIG BUT like Mariah Carey's... Still, in this film there are little tidbits dropped here and there out of the blue that REALLY make you wonder what the HELL is going on? Wild, unidentifiable genetic Super Dogs, WHAT...!??? So, I'm sitting here THINKING that maybe there is going to be some awesome Science Fiction reveal about genetic experimentation or something, but NO... Nothing like that.

Anyway, basically this is just a very simple and SLOW film. BUT... a good one that is well crafted, beautiful and moody to look at, and well acted throughout. Although I kind of disagree with many people here who are praising the lead Pederson to the extent that they are. I didn't really find him all that impressive (not that I don't like quiet, stoic leads) He just didn't strike me as all that special, but he does a decent job. And, as just about EVERYONE here has already said, Hugo Weaving's performance, even as a side character is excellent (as usual)

I think that if you really have a love for moody, ponderous, vague, picturesque films, and if you don't mind VERY slow, low-key pacing, you should enjoy this movie. It is indeed quite engrossing and very well put together...

There was a lot that was good in this film, but a few sour notes brought it down a little. The good: First and foremost, Pedersen's performance is great. He is in every scene and certainly carries the film. He is supported by the cream of Australian acting to tell an excellent story of crime and corruption in the outback. Finally, we get treated to some great cinematography of the Australian terrain with wide horizons and gorgeous sunrise/sunsets. The bad: It's slow. There are a lot of scenes of people just staring off into the distance, looking at the ground or doing other things and not talking or doing anything else. This leads to it being a little difficult to tell what is happening and there are some unanswered questions - such as who's side was Jonhno (Hugo Weaving) on? He was a cop that knew about the drugs but didn't arrest those involved. He helped Jay Swan at the end, but didn't start shooting until the fight had already begun? Was the police chief in on it? Finally, after everyone has been shot, there is no follow up. Jay Swan just goes home without filling out any paperwork or any other cop like activities which one would think would happen. This would have been handy to clarify what happened.

Ivan Sen has quietly been going about his movie making business in Australia for over 10 years now with his first feature film Beneath Clouds garnering great critical acclaim in 2002, and his under-seen yet equally acclaimed 2011 film Toomelah delivering one of the better Aboriginal themed movies this country has produced. With his new film Mystery Road, we see Sen developing a bigger project with an even bigger cast and the results, while slightly mixed, showcase that Sen could quite well be one of this country's brightest directing talents.

Sen is a jack of all trades who again here acts as not only director but composer, cinematographer and editor. It's a tough task for anyone to juggle all these duties at any given time, but for the majority of the picture Sen succeeds. He captures some beautiful, and in their own unique way haunting images of a dusty barren landscape and a land that seems wholly unforgiving. The film's pacing however does at times not complement the films structure with proceedings playing out in a pace that could of used a tighter edit and therefore perhaps it would have been a wise move for Sen to have an outsider come in and give it a useful trim, as well as a composer to enhance the musical ambiance. While Sen miscalculated these aspects of the film, he certainly directs some very solid performances in a tale that will keep you watching right through to the end.

In the lead role of understated yet determined aboriginal detective Jay Swan, TV actor Pedersen is a solid centering piece for the movie, a man that clearly knows his way around and can smell a liar a mile off. While Pedersen is a solid lead it's in the support of the ever amazing Hugo Weaving where the film really strikes gold. Any scene where Weaving's maniacal eyed cop Johnno is present the film really jumps up a notch and you get the true sense of what this movie could have been with more of these edge of your seat encounters. Other well-known Australian actors such as True Blood's Ryan Kwanten and David Field pop up in brief yet important roles.

Tying up in a way that for some reason feels like a cop out, Mystery Road is however a very enjoyable and impressively made Australian murder mystery that has enough qualities to find an audience overseas. With this effort and his previous films one gets the feeling the Sen is not far off from making an undisputed and successful Australian classic.

3 lonesome dusty roads out of 5

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Investigating the brutal murder of an Indigenous teenage girl in rural Australia, an Indigenous cop begins to question whether drugs, police corruption and other factors may have contributed in this thriller from 'Beneath Clouds' director Ivan Sen. As per 'Beneath Clouds', Sen litters his film is beautiful landscape shots. The twilight/dusk opening scene is especially striking with many moody colours blended in. The vast majority of 'Mystery Road' occurs in the daylight though with a few too many indoor shots. The film is very slow paced too with little sense of urgency or even danger as the protagonist probes deeper into the death. Interesting ideas abound as the detective begins to suspect that his own estranged teen daughter may have been mixed up with the murder victim and his scenes with her are among the most touching moments in the movie. 'Mystery Road' never makes up its mind though whether it wants to be an estranged father/daughter tale, a tale of an Indigenous cop overcoming prejudice, a tale of mistreatment of Indigenous youths or a tale of the corrupting influence of drugs. This in turn makes it difficult for the film to leave much of an impact. Lead actor Aaron Pedersen certainly tries his best to make the most of the material though - and he is helped out by a talented supporting cast - but one's mileage with the movie may well vary.

Diane and I watched this under rated beaut on TV several nights ago; I was totally absorbed in the film. Sure, all the aspects of film that upset people will be trundled out to smear this movie but pay no attention to them; pay attention to the marvellous script that uses minor plots to magnify the larger story. Of course anytime you try to make an action film using indigenous actors in main roles you will have naysayers degrading the film for using stereotypes but disregard these comments I found the film very interesting with no dull patches at all. The script was well done and the actors doing their roles to the best as far as I was concerned. The collection of actors both male and female, Anglo and Indigenous were superb. I think that another role played but receiving no credit was the remarkable landscape where the movie was filmed. The dryness of the small town was palpable after watching only the first sections; it was as if a bad metaphor had been dropped into the film but the burnt scenery eventually took on more than just a palate upon which the film was acted out.

I love our films and this one was no exception; there was a palpable sense of doom that was going to catch these people and that doom could not be reconciled. It would need to be played out.

There are so many other ways one could spend 2 hours. Watching a slow, slow, slow movie with subpar acting, a pointless script and a senseless plot certainly would be a beneficial one. This movie stunk to high heaven. My wife and I did watch it all the way to the end, but it was excruciating, but I am not a quitter. Do yourself a favor and pass on this one, nothing to see here...