This Australian rom com is completely delightful. It’s not perfect but I can very happily recommend it to you as a film that will make you laugh and maybe even shed a few tears.
Miranda Tapsell stars as city lawyer lady Lauren and Gwilym Lee as her pom soon-to-be husband Ned; both shine brightly in this film directed by Wayne Blair, the man also behind the film The Sapphires.
Lauren and Ned live in Adelaide and when they get engaged, they race to be married in Darwin 10 days later but on arrival discover Lauren’s mum has gone AWOL. Though she doesn’t have loads of screen time, Lauren’s mum is a really significant player in the film and her story is very moving. I definitely did shed a few tears but no spoilers here!
Lauren’s dad has more screen time and though the character is quite loveable, I’m mystified why they cast an English actor to play him, Huw Higginson. (You, like me, might recognise him from his long stint on the TV show The Bill. Anyone else forced to watch it with their parents on Saturday nights in the ‘90s?!) The only theory I can come up with for the strange casting is that they want a known face to help sell the film in the UK. I gather he relocated to Australia in 2014 and though his Australian accent is pretty good, it’s not perfect. This and the strange plotline involving Lauren’s boss going from office bitch to wedding saviour (!) are my only significant criticisms of the film. It’s otherwise pretty damn lovely.
I’m not sure if Tourism NT tipped any money into producing the film but given it paints a stunning picture of the Northern Territory, I sure hope they did! I certainly left wondering why the hell I haven’t spent more time exploring that part of Australia.
For more on the plot check out this three star review in The Guardian, which I reckon is a tad harsh but in many ways fair. For me this one is more like 3.5 or 4 stars worth of goodness.
Watch the trailer here. Top End Wedding opens 2 May and is rated M.