Asher Keddie, Michael Caton and Wayne Blair in a scene from the Australian movie Rams.
Camera IconAsher Keddie, Michael Caton and Wayne Blair in a scene from the Australian movie Rams. Credit: Supplied

Movie reviews: Leigh Paatsch’s verdict on the remakes of Rams and Rebecca

Leigh PaatschNews Corp Australia Network

Sam Neill and Michael Caton shine in an Aussie remake of Icelandic festival favourite Rams; the new version of Rebecca is just fine — under one condition.

While Rams may indeed be a very different kind of Australian movie, it is also a very Australian movie.

The significance of this statement becomes apparent when you unpick the highly unusual pedigree of Rams.

This is a relatively faithful remake of an astonishing (and utterly engrossing) Icelandic production that made quite a ripple on both the festival and arthouse cinema circuits in the middle of last decade.

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The story unfolds inside a close-knit sheep-farming community in Western Australia.

It is here we are introduced to two brothers living on adjacent properties, just outside the town of Mount Barker.

One goes by the name of Colin (Sam Neill). The other is Les (Michael Caton)

Old mates Michael Caton and Sam Neill are estranged brothers in the Australian movie Rams.
Camera IconOld mates Michael Caton and Sam Neill are estranged brothers in the Australian movie Rams. Credit: Supplied

The sibling’s houses stand less than 20m apart. If you were to ask any of the Mount Barker locals about Colin and Les, they would soon inform you that the pair have not spoken in more than 20 years.

Intriguingly, Rams never really fully clues us in about what drove the brothers apart.

Instead, subtly and skilfully, the movie steers both men on differing paths through the same personal crisis.

How each stubborn mule of a man chooses to react to that crisis may end up being of lasting importance to the other.

Without going into too fine detail about the plot, Colin and Les are famed in the region as the best breeders of a revered line of sheep.

Then comes an unprecedented disease outbreak, triggering a government decree that every woolly beast in the region must be put down.

Everything that Colin, Les and the wider community have worked for their entire lives is gone – just like that.

Therefore the same choice must be made by one and all: start over, or be rolled over.

Miranda Richardson and Sam Neill in the black comedy-drama, Rams.
Camera IconMiranda Richardson and Sam Neill in the black comedy-drama, Rams. Credit: Supplied

Colin makes quite a radical decision about what comes next.

As for Les, who is fighting a losing battle with the bottle, he will have to dry out before he can work out his game plan.

Like the original version, this take on Rams is a difficult movie to classify.

At times, it is as charming a (blackish) comedy as they come.

At others, it is a strikingly well-observed drama.

The minimalist performances of Neill and Caton convey much more than most viewers will expect, particularly as their characters are the embodiment of “men of few words”.

Further enhancing the unlikely appeal of Rams is a wonderful collection of support players led by Wayne Blair, Asher Keddie and British import Miranda Richardson.

Rams is now showing in cinemas (excluding Victoria)

Director: Jeremy Sims (Last Cab To Darwin)

Starring: Sam Neill, Michael Caton, Miranda Richardson, Wayne Blair, Asher Keddie

Rating: ***1/2

Nothing more to say, but so much more to do

Armie Hammer as Maxim de Winter, Lily James as Mrs. de Winter the new Netflix remake of Rebecca.
Camera IconArmie Hammer as Maxim de Winter, Lily James as Mrs. de Winter the new Netflix remake of Rebecca. Credit: Supplied

Rebecca (M)

Surprisingly, the only Best Picture Oscar that landed Alfred Hitchcock’s way was for his classic 1940 adaptation of the Daphne du Maurier novel Rebecca.

As we know, remaking any Hitchcock movie is a pointless exercise.

Therefore it is difficult to recommend this attractively mounted new rendition of Rebecca to anyone who has seen the original.

You’ll find yourself hopelessly distracted by unnecessarily drab changes and exasperated by unintentionally pale repetitions.

However, if you’re coming it with a fresh set of eyes and a blank memory, you will be relatively delighted and diverted by what stands as quite a decent period romantic thriller.

You won’t be meeting the title character, by the way, but you will be sensing her presence for much of the running time here.

She is the late wife of dapper 1930s gent Maxim de Winter (Armie Hammer), the wealthy owner of a sprawling British seaside estate.

You won’t be learning the first name of Maxim’s new missus, by the way, but you will be experiencing his life of privilege, entitlement and increasingly mercurial mood swings through her eyes.

Lily James as Mrs. de Winter and Kristin Scott Thomas as Mrs. Danvers in Rebecca.
Camera IconLily James as Mrs. de Winter and Kristin Scott Thomas as Mrs. Danvers in Rebecca. Credit: Supplied

As played by a well-cast Lily James, the new Mrs de Winter has her work cut out getting to know her enigmatic spouse, and not just because he had a ring on her finger within a week of their chance meeting in Monte Carlo.

So it would be wise to keep an eye on Maxim’s haughty head housekeeper Mrs Danvers (Kristin Scott Thomas), who has her own reasons for not issuing a warm welcome to the new lady of the house.

Rebecca is now streaming on Netflix

Director: Ben Wheatley (Free Fire)

Starring: Lily James, Armie Hammer, Kristin Scott Thomas

Rating: ***

A second try worth it … if it’s your first time