The Tender Hook
Review
by Anthony Morris
Sometimes it's good to go along with the
clichés.
It
might be fun to go on a ride with no idea where you'll end up, but
occasionally it is just as enjoyable to see all the familiar sights as
you travel a well-worn path to a destination you know by
heart.
So when The Tender Hook
seems to start out as a traditional roaring 1920s gangster flick in
which a gangster's mole falls in love with a boxer (whose principles
get him into trouble when he is asked to throw a fight), it's not all
bad news.
For one thing, there is a first-class cast
here. The most notable inclusions being Hugo Weaving (as the crooner /
boxing promoter / gangster) at the story's heart and Rose Byrne as the
woman he loves (but who stays with him more out of fear than anything
else).
The supporting cast are solid, the film itself
looks great, and for a while at least things seem to be moving nicely
along that well-worn track that leads to "The Big Fight".
And then it all falls apart.
Despite
an ending so obvious the film starts off with it right up front, as
well as a bunch of clichéd characters who aren't surprising even when
their only character trait is to pull a surprising twist - the film
makers still think that throwing in a good fifteen minutes of pointless
to-ing and fro-ing is what audiences want to see.
There is nothing wrong with The
Tender Hook
that a good hard edit couldn't fix. But as it's not your job to fix it,
why not go see one that has already been fixed by professionals instead?
2 out
of 5
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The Tender
Hook
Australian release: 18th
September,
2008
Official
Site: The
Tender Hook
Cast: Rose Byrne, Hugo Weaving,
Pia Miranda
Director: Jonathan Ogilvie
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