Prime Mover

Review by Anthony Morris

In the past writer / director David Caesar (Idiot Box, Mullet) has shown a knack for taking the working class end of Australian society and turning it into entertaining, energetic movie material. 

And for a while it looks like Prime Mover is building up to deliver another winner, as our would-be truckie hero (Michael Dorman) uses the death of his truckie dad to spur on his own ambitions of leaving behind his job detailing big rigs to become an owner-operator himself. 

Trouble is, he's a bit short on cash, and with a pregnant girlfriend (Emily Barclay) and a mum who won't go guarantor on a loan, he takes up a suggestion from a dodgy fellow driver (regular Caesar collaborator Ben Mendlesohn) and visits the local loan shark for the cash. 

Soon he's got the truck of his dreams, and thanks to one of his dad’s mates (William McInnis) he's got some steady work coming in, but even with his now-wife and child living in a caravan out the back of Bourke it's tough to make ends meet.

What follows is just that little bit too predictable, as he hits the speed to keep up with his workload only to find it has a serious downside just as his debts spiral out of control and his family starts to crumble around him. 

The story is well told and there's a real sense of the life of an outback truckie here, but there's no surprises here: fairly early on this starts to look like the story of a young man in over his head and that's exactly what you get.

Caesar's earlier films had a real sense of life in them, a spark to the characters that let them take unpredictable turns. This isn't just the story of a man who's path is locked down in front of him, it feels like it was made by one too.

3 out of 5

Prime Mover
Australian release: 12th November, 2009
Official Site: Prime Mover
Cast: Michael Dorman, Emily Barclay, Ben Mendelsohn, William McInnes, Anthony Hayes
Director: David Caesar