Strangerland

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Joseph Fiennes, & Hugo Weaving

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Set in the Australian outback, Strangerland tells the story of a family that has recently relocated to a small town that is literally in the middle of nowhere. The move seemed like an odd choice, but as you will later find out, it was a necessary one, but needless to say no one is particularly happy about it, especially the families two kids. One day there is a report of a large dust storm headed towards town and the parents go to get their children to safety, only to discover they are nowhere to be found. The local sheriff is called in, but he's not moving fast enough for the father, so he takes things into his own hands, further complicating things. Aside from the unusual setting and circumstances of the disappearance, this film isn't all that original, in fact, except for the ending and the location, it was really very similar to the film, Prisoners. The investigation was fairly interesting, as was the setting, Hugo Weaving was good as the sheriff, but was really the only interesting character with any kind of personality or background of interest. As for the rest of the cast, they're kind of just there, they don't talk much about themselves or their past and the film has an extremely narrow focus. Nicole Kidman just cries a lot and Joseph Fiennes wants to yell at anyone who will listen, which unfortunately is us. The bottom line, Strangerland is an average, forgettable film, it has enough going for it that it will keep your attention and it moves at a decent pace, but the characters are nothing to write home about, the performances are nothing special either, and you don't have to be a rocket scientist to understand what's going on or what happened in the end.