Nearly three million square miles of tripe. A Ferber-esque epic of a “delicate English rose” who takes over her late husband’s cattle ranch in rugged northern Australia on the eve of World War II, a Cimarron Down Under, with a sprinkle of Aboriginal magic, and a thick coat of high-gloss lacquer. Baz Luhrmann, never mistaken as a man of taste, starts out treating it almost as a spoof, and ends up, after a series of grandiose climaxes, treating it as a solemnization, selecting Elgar’s “Nimrod” variation as accompaniment to the little half-caste narrator’s departure on walkabout. This, and much else, might very well wrest a smile from your lips. Or a sneer. With Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, David Wenham, Bryan Brown, Jack Thompson, and Brandon Walters. (2008) — Duncan Shepherd
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