Jindabyne
Dir: Ray Lawrence
2006
**
Ray Lawrence is a director I admire. His direction is generally always faultless and his films always stir up appealing yet somewhat awkward issues. Jindabyne raises social questions but does so in the slowest and most inane way possible. You don't have to be a Raymond Carver fan to enjoy it either, although that said I don't feel any adaptation of his work has ever fit a particular style or has indeed worked anyway. The pace is painfully slow, the editing lethargic and the performances inconsistent. It's amazing how such a thrilling premise could become something so stale, all intrigue is extinguished within the first third of the film and it never fully recovers. Watch it for the few moments of genuine tension or because either Gabriel Byrne or Laura Linnney are your favorite actors but that's about as far a recommendation as I can give.