I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

A Masterpiece!

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Apparently 'Jindabyne' is the story of how the monumentally stupid behavior of four Australian good buddies (not reporting the discovery of a body until they've finished fishing, and then letting on that they did so) brings the racial conflicts of an Australian town and emotional conflicts of its families to the surface.The problem with the film is that not one of the characters is written as anything but a stereotype. Not a single one of them has a need that the audience can understand - you're left to assume their motivation from the cliché they are drawn from. It's sheer bad writing - each main character has to have some sort of major drama going on, because their characters are so thin. That's melodrama, and the cast chew the Australian scenery like they haven't eaten in a week, and the full-on ethnic wailing on the soundtrack gets old very quickly.The consequence of having so many threads of melodrama is that not one of them is resolved. The movie tries to cover up its lack of proper characterization by resorting to an unnecessary and unresolved serial killer plot, and a paper-thin small-town racism plot.Nobody on the crew thought to mention that if you find a dead body in a creek, you might not feel like eating the fish you pull out of there. Bad writing and sloppy film-making.

I have absolutely no idea how this ended up on my "want to see" list. I know nothing about the director, I don't particularly care about the actors, it has a rather low score on IMDb, and I don't remember hearing about it anywhere. About a third of the way through I had a flash of recognition as I realized that many years ago I'd read the Raymond Carver story it was based on (the same story also makes up a portion of SHORT CUTS, although I've forgotten it being in there at all).Lawrence expands on the story a bit, at least to my recollection. I don't remember there being any racial elements, which adds some interesting angles to the themes of guilt. The characters feel a wide array of guilts, and use them as weapons against each other, so introducing white guilt into the mix gives the film more avenues to explore. I found the drama rather compelling (after a somewhat sluggish first act) with its dilemmas and interpersonal conflict. I haven't read Carver for a long time, but I know he liked to examine the ways in which we justify our actions. However, the film does lay it on a bit thick at times, despite attempts at subtlety. Some of the metaphorical work going on is pretty heavy-handed. I also found the performances not terribly impressive. Still, a worthwhile endeavor for fans of moral tales.

I really wanted to like this film...but ultimately found it a slow, self important, tedious, offensive mess. It's as though the producers tried to tick every PC box to get film Australia funding. (Lesbians, Aboriginals, all the white men are evil) PAHH-LEEEZE. Not a single likable or sympathetic character in the whole sorry charade. I gave up caring for anyone in the film and started hoping the 'serial killer' would start picking them off.. just to relieve the tedium.What could have been an interesting film ( good premise, great locations, strong cast) simply get's mired in it's own bloated sense of self importance.

This film promises so much - the premise raises all sorts of interesting issues - I was captivated...initially. Somehow the film becomes a sort of Billy Jack for the noughties.The director is clever enough to put his messages in the mouths of likable country types but they are unmistakably the words of odious, self-obsessed, antidepressant addicted bores. These characters don't exist in Jindabyne or any country town. It's didactic in a way that makes you feel as if you're being preached at for 90 minutes but that's not the worst of it. Nothing rings true. The characters are just ciphers.The final fifteen minutes would have been unforgivable if they appeared in a student film.