The first line we hear uttered out of Tilly Dunnage’s mouth is ‘I’m Back you Bastards‘. And she is indeed in the remote Australian outback small town which she left overnight in a hurry some 20 years ago. For the past two decades she has re-invented herself as a very successful fashion designer wowing the crowds in Milan, Paris and London with her fabulous couture gowns. It’s the 1950’s and extravagent frocks like hers are all the rage in fashionable Europe, and she soon starts to use them to woo the slightly hostile women back here in her dustbowl hometown.
Rumors are rife as to why Tilly left town in the first place, and she has come back to set the record straight. The problem is that she has no recollection at all as to what actually happened, so when the locals now start bleating accusations like ‘murderer’ she is even more anxious to learn the truth. Her own house-bound eccentric foul-mouthed mother known to all as Mad Molly (a delicious performance from the wonderful Judy Davis) doesn’t believe in her daughter’s innocence but she grudgingly lets her back into her ramshackled house that sits on a hill overlooking the one-street town
There are only two people in town happy to see her back. One is Farrat (Hugo Weaving) the Police sergeant who is a closeted crossdresser who cannot wait to get his own hands of Tilly’s fine wares, and the other is Teddy McSwiney (Liam Hemsworth) the local hot stud and star football player. They are happy to try to help Tilly actually find out what really happened when schoolboy Stewart was discovered dead, but before they can get to the bottom of this far fetched story, a few more people will drop down dead in this comic-murder-mystery which never takes itself seriously for one single moment. That is until the one dark plot twist which creeps up on you most unexpectedly.
Aside from that this vary campy extravaganza from director Jocelyn Moorhouse who co-wrote the script with her husband P.J. Hogan, the helmer of cult classics such as Muriel’s Wedding and My Best Friend’s Wedding, is purely a vehicle for the wonderful comic talents of Kate Winslet. And the frocks of course. She looks glorious dressed voluptuously in deep red eventually winning most hearts as she sails through this lighthearted frothy nonsense evidently having as much fun as we do watching it.
She and the movie swept the boards at the Australian Oscars which will certainly not be repeated here in the US …. except maybe for the costumes. But as a dressmaker, we can assure you that she will have you completely in stitches.
Labels: 2016, Australian, comedy
