'Australia' review

Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman (Credit: James Fisher/20th Century Fox)

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Uptight socialite Lady Sarah Ashley (Nicole Kidman) leaves her London home to confront her husband in Australia, but tragedy strikes and he's dead by the time she arrives. Her tour guide to the big bold world down under is a strapping fellow known only as the Drover (Hugh Jackman), who reluctantly agrees to help Sarah drive her late husband's cattle across country. Their story is narrated by precocious half-white, half Aboriginal Nullah (precocious newcomer Brandon Walters), who becomes a surrogate son to them both.

The buzz: It's been seven years since Kidman and filmmaker Baz Luhrmann last collaborated on the Oscar-nominated musical "Moulin Rouge!," and the director hasn't made a movie since. After Oliver Stone beat him to the punch on a film about Alexander the Great, Luhrmann turned his attention to this sweeping historical epic about his homeland, originally intended to star Kidman and Russell Crowe (and then, briefly, Heath Ledger). More recently, there were questions as to whether Luhrmann would be able to finish the film in time to meet a Thanksgiving release date. He reportedly worked down to the wire to complete the final cut.

The verdict: Luhrmann deserves credit for the kind of old-fashioned showmanship that's in short supply these days. He's a broad strokes filmmaker and everything about "Australia" is outsized: big emotions, big locations, big running time (two hours and 45 minutes) and, eventually, big explosions. For such a large-scale epic, "Australia" is also exceptionally playful, but while that lighter touch adds a pleasing balance to Kidman's performance it's less successful when she's not on screen. Fortunately, that's rare and the movie is never less than watchable for her efforts alone. But the four (!) screenwriters, including Luhrmann, mistakenly emphasize Sarah's maternal relationship with Nullah over her romance with Drover, resulting in an epic that's cute when it should be sweeping and richer in Aboriginal mysticism than genuine cinematic magic.

Did you know? More evidence for the potential upside of swimming: an extensive search for the right boy to play Nullah led to Walters' discovery in a public pool.

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