Joanne Lees: Murder In The Outback

The Sunday Age

Sunday March 18, 2007

Melinda Houston

4/5

JOANNE LEES: MURDER IN THE OUTBACK

Sunday 8.30pm, Channel Ten

Hurrah! More excellent Australian drama. Even if it is only an hour and a half. A co-production between Granada and the Ten network (naturally, the Brits were hot to be involved) Joanne Lees gets just about everything right.

Given that we all know how it ends, it's a credit to everyone involved that this remains gripping, and often very moving, from the sunny opening scenes to the final verdict. The whole thing has a wonderful pace and tension, a mix of murder mystery, police procedural and courtroom drama, all bound together by the strong, sticky thread of Lees' story. (Like in all good stories, the human drama at the heart of it keeps it ticking.) The background is neatly sketched, then we move quickly to the murder. And there's tremendous suspense as the kids are flagged down in the utter darkness, utter stillness, utter nothingness of the Stuart Highway in the middle of the night.

Great cinematography makes every scene a pleasure, whether that's Bondi Beach or the Darwin courthouse. The script is so good you don't even notice it. And the cast is tremendous, from Gary Waddell as the truckie who picks up the hysterical Lees in the middle of nowhere to Bryan Brown and John Woods as lawyers for the prosecution and defence. (One small quibble: Richard Carter overdoes the sinister slightly in his portrayal of Murdoch.)

But it's Joanne Froggatt as Lees who makes this movie. She's not beautiful. On the contrary, she's rather pinch-faced and pale. She's not especially likeable: flawed, cranky, imperious, but also bullied and betrayed, she's frequently unattractive but always sympathetic.

Froggatt does a splendid job of portraying the blind panic, the hysteria that might attend such an event and the film itself does a good job of examining why a witness statement may not be reliable or even make complete sense.

Another strength here is the subtle manner in which it explores how the suspicion around Lees developed. It looks at our attitudes to victims, to grieving, at what's appropriate behaviour, what happens when people step outside these roles - without ever banging on about it or turning it into a tutorial.

It's a ripping yarn, and, no matter how much you might think there's nothing left to say on the matter, it manages to provide a fresh, intelligent look at a defining Australian story.

© 2007 The Sunday Age

Back to News Index | Back to Home