Before I get to Brothers' Nest I want to start by saying that when people get all Debbie downer about Australian films, I say, but what about Muriel's Wedding?! Lion?! Animal Kingdom?! Lantana?! Crackerjack?! Strictly Ballroom?! Look, I'll stop now but you get the idea - Australia makes some really wonderful films and I make an effort to say so.
Sadly I don't think Brothers' Nest will be recalled in the same breath as any of those classics.
Brothers Jeff and Terry, played by real-life brothers Shane Jacobson and Clayton Jacobson, visit their old family home in country Victoria with a plot to make sure the estate of their dying mother (Lynette Curran) doesn't go to the step-father (Kim Gyngell) they hate. The complexities of their relationship play out as the plot unfolds.
For me, the film has an identity crisis. Promotional material describes it as a "tragic comedy" but it's not funny enough to be a comedy and not dramatic enough to be a drama. You can never be sure of their motivation but for what it's worth, four people from a crowd of about 25-30 in the screening I was at left before the film had finished.
I always walk into an Australian film desperate to love it so I can annoyingly sing it from the rooftops to the aforementioned Debbie downers so I'm really disappointed this one didn't get there for me. I know lots of Aussies love Shane Jacobson after his performance in the Australian film 'Kenny' but as Shane and Clayton have said themselves in promoting the film, if you come to this one looking for something like Kenny you will be disappointed. (You will see some blatant expectation-management around this if you watch the trailer.)
As some of the mainstream Australian media organisations share their reviews I will update this blog to include them. As regular readers will know, I'm always happy to share the counter-view in the interests of fairness, especially if lots of people disagree with me.
Brothers' Nest opens in cinemas on 21 June and is rated MA 15+. Trailer here. (If you watch this and wonder why I haven't mentioned Sarah Snook's role it's because it's so small, which you might not guess based on the trailer.)
PS. [added 22 June 2018] Other reviews as follows:
The Guardian 4 stars / Fairfax 3.5 stars / Herald Sun is behind a paywall so I'll just share the hint from the preview "BROTHERS’ NEST marks a big step down in quality, execution and direct audience appeal for the team that gave us the classic Australian crowd-pleaser Kenny."
PPS. I know the spelling is different but these two will always be my favourite on-screen Jeff and Terry!
