PALM BEACH
***
Director: Rachel Ward
Screenwriter: Joanna Murray-Smith and Rachel Ward
Principal cast:
Bryan Brown
Greta Scacchi
Sam Neill
Jacqueline McKenzie
Richard E. Grant
Heather Mitchell
Country: Australia
Classification: M
Runtime: 100 mins.
Australian release date: 8 August 2019
Previewed at: Universal Theatrette, Sydney, on 29 July 2019.
Having opened this year’s Sydney Film Festival, Rachel Brown’s second feature, Palm Beach, is now getting its cinema release, but will it be as well-received by the general public as it was in a festival setting? Mainly filmed in a splendidly opulent home perched above the famed northern Sydney beach of the title, overlooking the Barrenjoey Peninsula, the movie was partly funded by Destination New South Wales and you can easily see why. It is a fabulous location, inhabited by those fortunate few who are able to afford the suburb’s extremely expensive property prices in order to spend a week or two of their summer holidays there. It would be a big drawcard for potential tourists to Australia who see the film.
Frank (Bryan Brown) has recently sold his Swagger Crew Sportswear business and, feeling nostalgic about his youthful career as the manager of a one-hit wonder band called The Pacific Sideburns who hit the charts in 1977 with a song called Fearless, he has gathered the remaining band members together to attend the celebrations for his birthday. As their guests arrive for the three-day festivities, Frank’s wife Charlotte (Greta Scacchi) is busily preparing a sumptuous lunch comprised of groaning plates of seafood and salad, to be washed down with buckets of expensive bubbles on the outdoor patio area surrounded by panoramic water views. During the repast, we learn that Leo (Sam Neill) has had a health scare and has reappraised a significant pact he made with one of the revellers years before and he now wishes to renege on the agreement. Sensing something’s wrong, his wife Bridget (Jacqueline McKenzie) is feeling on the outer and spends a lot of the time drinking with the ‘girls’, including aging actress Eva (Heather Mitchell), who’s married to the other member of the band, Billy (Richard E. Grant). Billy is now a struggling advertising jingle writer and he’s jealous of Frank’s financial success so he spends much of the time niggling him about “a tiny blip on Paradise”, a pair of chimneys that can be seen from the sumptuous eyrie. There are plenty of side issues and sub-plots, too, involving other members of the extended family, like Holly (Claire van der Boom), the daughter of the band’s deceased lead singer, who joins the celebrations with her new boyfriend Doug (Aaron Jeffrey), an Esky-carrying country boy sporting a 10-gallon hat, and Frank and Charlotte’s youngest, Dan (Charlie Vickers), who’s struggling to find himself. As with all old friendships, there is much camaraderie but also bouts of tension. The men are like a boy’s club desperate to preserve their past while the women ruminate about their men’s foibles. As the party continues and copious amounts of wine are consumed, tensions rise until Leo’s secret explodes into view.
Palm Beach will mostly appeal to baby-boomers who will relate to the issues covered, such as the problems that come with parenthood and the difficulty of facing up to older age. It’s hard to see, though, who else will seek out this movie. There are plenty of films these days that examine these topics, and this one is pretty niche. Admittedly, the script contains some funny scenes but others are quite clichéd. Melinda Doring’s over-the-top production design and Joanna Mae Park’s North Shore clobber are beautifully captured by Bonnie Elliot’s cinematography, and together they truthfully reflect the casual wealth of Palm Beach’s denizens. The Aussie ensemble cast of veteran actors is terrific and Richard E. Grant spins off them well - it’s a treat to see so many familiar faces working together. The shoot was undoubtedly a lot of fun. In fact, you’ll leave the cinema thinking about what a great party it was - it’s just a shame that we weren’t invited. It’s insular on the peninsula.
Screenwriter: Joanna Murray-Smith and Rachel Ward
Principal cast:
Bryan Brown
Greta Scacchi
Sam Neill
Jacqueline McKenzie
Richard E. Grant
Heather Mitchell
Country: Australia
Classification: M
Runtime: 100 mins.
Australian release date: 8 August 2019
Previewed at: Universal Theatrette, Sydney, on 29 July 2019.
Having opened this year’s Sydney Film Festival, Rachel Brown’s second feature, Palm Beach, is now getting its cinema release, but will it be as well-received by the general public as it was in a festival setting? Mainly filmed in a splendidly opulent home perched above the famed northern Sydney beach of the title, overlooking the Barrenjoey Peninsula, the movie was partly funded by Destination New South Wales and you can easily see why. It is a fabulous location, inhabited by those fortunate few who are able to afford the suburb’s extremely expensive property prices in order to spend a week or two of their summer holidays there. It would be a big drawcard for potential tourists to Australia who see the film.
Frank (Bryan Brown) has recently sold his Swagger Crew Sportswear business and, feeling nostalgic about his youthful career as the manager of a one-hit wonder band called The Pacific Sideburns who hit the charts in 1977 with a song called Fearless, he has gathered the remaining band members together to attend the celebrations for his birthday. As their guests arrive for the three-day festivities, Frank’s wife Charlotte (Greta Scacchi) is busily preparing a sumptuous lunch comprised of groaning plates of seafood and salad, to be washed down with buckets of expensive bubbles on the outdoor patio area surrounded by panoramic water views. During the repast, we learn that Leo (Sam Neill) has had a health scare and has reappraised a significant pact he made with one of the revellers years before and he now wishes to renege on the agreement. Sensing something’s wrong, his wife Bridget (Jacqueline McKenzie) is feeling on the outer and spends a lot of the time drinking with the ‘girls’, including aging actress Eva (Heather Mitchell), who’s married to the other member of the band, Billy (Richard E. Grant). Billy is now a struggling advertising jingle writer and he’s jealous of Frank’s financial success so he spends much of the time niggling him about “a tiny blip on Paradise”, a pair of chimneys that can be seen from the sumptuous eyrie. There are plenty of side issues and sub-plots, too, involving other members of the extended family, like Holly (Claire van der Boom), the daughter of the band’s deceased lead singer, who joins the celebrations with her new boyfriend Doug (Aaron Jeffrey), an Esky-carrying country boy sporting a 10-gallon hat, and Frank and Charlotte’s youngest, Dan (Charlie Vickers), who’s struggling to find himself. As with all old friendships, there is much camaraderie but also bouts of tension. The men are like a boy’s club desperate to preserve their past while the women ruminate about their men’s foibles. As the party continues and copious amounts of wine are consumed, tensions rise until Leo’s secret explodes into view.
Palm Beach will mostly appeal to baby-boomers who will relate to the issues covered, such as the problems that come with parenthood and the difficulty of facing up to older age. It’s hard to see, though, who else will seek out this movie. There are plenty of films these days that examine these topics, and this one is pretty niche. Admittedly, the script contains some funny scenes but others are quite clichéd. Melinda Doring’s over-the-top production design and Joanna Mae Park’s North Shore clobber are beautifully captured by Bonnie Elliot’s cinematography, and together they truthfully reflect the casual wealth of Palm Beach’s denizens. The Aussie ensemble cast of veteran actors is terrific and Richard E. Grant spins off them well - it’s a treat to see so many familiar faces working together. The shoot was undoubtedly a lot of fun. In fact, you’ll leave the cinema thinking about what a great party it was - it’s just a shame that we weren’t invited. It’s insular on the peninsula.
