The Proposition

Review by Clint Morris

The Australian Film Industry is a bit like a box of cheap chocolates at the moment - when you take the lid off and work your way through the offerings, you end up picking a couple of reasonably tasting ones and then discard the rest, because they don't take your fancy.

Like a harried distributor, you put the box back on the shelf, waiting for a day when you become desperate or plucky enough to revisit something that's a little unappetising.

First things first then - John Hillcoat's The Proposition goes down nicely. Filled with matchlessness, covered in terrific performances and dished in a screenplay full of absorbing expressions - it really is one of the most easily consumable Australian-made products to come along in quite some time.

Part Rabbit Proof Fence, part Young Guns, but mostly the vision of proficient singer-songwriter turned screenwriter, Nick Cave, The Proposition is a captivating western yarn filled with absorbing multi-faceted characters and an in-your-face splashing of action that'll leave it's mark even after the curtains have closed.

Set in the 1880's in a disordered, aggressive Australia, described by one character as a "fresh hell" in the first few minutes of the film, The Proposition tells of a stringent police captain (Ray Winstone) who's determined to catch a murderous illicit named Arthur Burns (Danny Huston).

He offers the recently captured Charlie Burns (Guy Pearce) a deal - find Arthur, kill him and in return, Charlie and younger Brother Mikey (Richard Wilson) will be pardoned for their preceding wrongdoings.

The dishevelled cowboy Charlie (a terribly malnourished, pale looking Pearce - assumingly giving his all for the role) sets out to the west to find his psychotic dissenter brother, whilst the captain (Winstone) and his wife (Emily Watson) deal with a township that feels its lead law-abider has let the iniquitous Burns brothers off too easily.

Like a song that's a little different from the norm, The Proposition takes a little while to grow on you, but once you get to know its rhythm and listen to the words its relaying, it starts to grow on you, and you're determined to leave that loo visit until the film's final credits have rolled.

The screenplay, though cacophonously familiar, is the standout. Cave has penned characters of flesh and bone with substantial detail, and unlike a lot of westerns, this one deters from slapping nametags on the good guys and bad guys so we know who's who.

In this, there doesn't seem to be any true villain or any clear-cut hero. It's the individual's current motives; regardless of past moves, that truly count.

Winstone as the intriguing Captain Stanley is the standout, giving a memorable, stirring and highly authentic turn as a lawman that hides his full-scale empathy deep below the surface of the badge.

Though Pearce and Watson are as equally as endowed and give fine performances in their own right, it's really Winstone who'll be remembered here at the end of the day. He's got a lot more to do, and treats every scene as if it were his last to shine.

The Proposition might not bowl you for six, as it still has it's minor problems - lack of a meaty middle act, the inability to snag you from the get-go, and a failure to use some of the more prominent supporting players as well as it could've - but at the end of the day, it's still one of the best local films in years, and a sign that our deteriorating industry might soon be back in shape.

Bring on Cave's next effort.

3.5 out of 5

The Proposition
Australian release: Thursday the 6th of October, 2005
Cast: Guy Pearce, Ray Winstone, Emily Watson, Danny Huston, David Wenham, Tom Budge, John Hurt, David Gulpilil, Leah Purcell, Richard Wilson.
Director: John Hillcoat.
Website: Click here.

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