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Lantana Details

2001 Certificate 15 Certificate 15 (TBC)
  • Rated:
  • 70
  • from 6495 members

Ray Lawrence's LANTANA is an intelligent, well-written, well-acted film that is much more than just another cop thriller--it's more like YOU CAN COUNT ON ME with its realistic, complex relationships and believable characters. The film opens with a slow pan over a dead body, eerily reminiscent of BLUE VELVET. Anthony LaPaglia .. Read more

Starring Geoffrey Rush, Anthony La Paglia, Barbara Hershey, Rachael Blake
Director Ray Lawrence
Genres Drama, Romance

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Lantana

Ray Lawrence's LANTANA is an intelligent, well-written, well-acted film that is much more than just another cop thriller--it's more like YOU CAN COUNT ON ME with its realistic, complex relationships and believable characters. The film opens with a slow pan over a dead body, eerily reminiscent of BLUE VELVET. Anthony LaPaglia stars as Leon, a Sydney police detective who is cheating on his wife, Sonja (Kerry Armstrong), with a married woman from their dance class (Rachael Blake), even though he still loves his wife. There's something missing from his life, but he's not sure what. His relationship with his son is strained, and even his partner, Claudia (Leah Purcell), knows something is wrong. But as his affair heats up and a murder mystery that seems to involve all of the people in his life begins to consume his attentions, he is forced to reexamine his future both as a family man and a cop.
LANTANA won seven Australian Film Institute Awards, including best picture, best director for Lawrence, best actor for LaPaglia, best actress for Armstrong, best supporting awards for both Blake and Colosimo, and best adapted screenplay by Andrew Bovell, who based the script on his play SPEAKING IN TONGUES. As the murder investigation gets more complicated and the tangled web leads to even more lying, cheating, and deception, the acting intensifies, and the sharp dialogue allows the characters to blossom as beautifully as the lantana bush referred to in the title.

Starring Geoffrey Rush, Anthony La Paglia, Barbara Hershey, Rachael Blake, Vince Colosimo
Director Ray Lawrence
Studio UNIVERSAL PICTURES UK VIDEO RENTAL
Run time DVD: 1 hr 55 mins
Watch now: 1 hr 56 mins
Certificate DVD: Certificate 15, Watch Online: Certificate 15 (TBC)
Genres Drama, Romance
Language DVD: English
Hearing-impaired English
Released DVD: 17 Feb 2003
Watch now: 08 Apr 2009
Production year: 2001
Watch now Subscribe and watch this as part of an unlimited package.
Format DVD
  • Critics' reviews (2) of Lantana

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  • 4 stars out of 5

    In his first directorial outing since the admirable Bliss in 1985, Ray Lawrence belies his roots in commercials with this engrossing adaptation of Andrew Bovell's play, Speaking in Tongues. It's a supremely controlled ensemble piece, in which chance and coincidence increase the tension of what is, ostensibly, a suburban thriller. But, as the mesh of imperceptively interweaving relationships becomes increasingly complex, the identity and fate of a missing woman become less important than the resolution of the different domestic crises involving psychiatrist Barbara Hershey and husband Geoffrey Rush, world-weary cop Anthony LaPaglia and the unhappy souls who inhabit the fringes of their lives.

    • Radio Times
  • 3 stars out of 4

    An intense exploration of prickly relationships rather than a whodunnit, this well-crafted and -acted movie provides both suspense and insight.

    • Halliwell's Film Guide
  • Most helpful member's review of Lantana

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  • 32 out of 33 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 5 stars

    Film-making at its best......

    A woman lies dead in the middle of woodland....the relationships of all those involved in finding out how and why she got there are examined. Everything about this film is top class - the script, cast, acting directing, editing.. everything. This is a superb ensemble film and should not be missed. Anthony Lapaglia is particularly good.

      • Andrew from Scotland
  • Most recent members' review of Lantana

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  • 2 out of 2 people found this review helpful

    Rated - 4 stars

    My goodness a film about real people who are over 30!!! More about the mysteries of being middle-aged than an actual murder mystery, and there?s no knife crazed denouement! Can?t be from the USA, nope it?s Australian. Thought as much.

  • News and features

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    Jindabyne

    Jindabyne

    • 22 May 2007

    Stewart (Gabriel Byrne) has been looking forward to his annual fishing expedition with his mates ever since he returned from the last one. Jindabyne is a no-nothing town, work in his garage is wearing, and his marriage to Claire (Laura Linney) has seen better days. But out in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales he can breathe again. The air is fresh. The modern world may as well not exist; here it's all about four men and the fish they can cook over an open flame. When Stewart finds the... Read more

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Rating breakdown

6,495 Member ratings
  • 100
513
  • 90
624
  • 80
1,347
  • 70
1,176
  • 60
1,091
  • 50
668
  • 40
428
  • 30
304
  • 20
230
  • 10
114

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    • Ray Lawrence's LANTANA is an intelligent, well-written, well-acted film that is much more than just another cop thriller--it's more like YOU CAN COUNT ON ME with its realistic, complex relationships ...