Look Both Ways Review - Sunday Mail - SA

Best of both worlds Edition: 1 - State
Section: Supplement, pg. I08
DRAMA
Look Both Ways
(100 minutes, M)
****

The players: William McInnes, Justine Clarke, Anthony Hayes, Lisa
Flanagan, Daniela Farinacci, Edwin Hodgeman.

Behind the scenes: Written and directed by Sarah Watt.

The plot: A group of people deal with unexpected news during a hot
weekend in Adelaide.

In short: Warning signs.

IT'S been a long wait for the return of Look Both Ways, an Australian
drama that opened the Adelaide Film Festival in February to rave
reviews from audiences and critics.

Look Both Ways is both touching and funny - and an exciting debut
by first-timer Sarah Watt.

The director, who has won awards worldwide for her animated short
films, wrote the screenplay with her husband, William McInnes, in
mind.

The former Blue Heeler plays Nick, a photographer who is told some
very bad news very early on in the piece.

The story then follows his life and that of several other characters
during a scorcher of a weekend in Adelaide.

Nick meets Meryl (Home and Away alumni Justine Clarke), an artist
returning home after her father's funeral.

Meryl paints pictures and fears the worst; she imagines trains crashing
and killer sharks gobbling her up.

Her encounters with Nick throughout the film are sweet, awkward and
funny - so much between them is left unsaid.

Andy (Anthony Hayes) is a journalist with two kids who has separated
from his wife.

He's involved with Anna (Lisa Flanagan), a nurse who discovers she
is pregnant and gives him an ultimatum.

Meryl meets Andy when he and Nick are sent by the newspaper they work
for to cover a local train accident.

Apart from the train driver (Andreas Sobik), Meryl is the only witness.
Watt cleverly weaves these many strands together. She also inserts
short bursts of animation and photographs to illustrate the inner
life of her characters.

It's a risky technique that pays off superbly.

Rather than intrude on the story, the animation brings an expansiveness
to the film.

Some of these small moments are just plain funny. In fact, the small
moments are where the film's strength lies.

Watt is a great observer and there is profound pathos and insight
underlying the day to day interactions between her characters. Each
scene is beautifully structured and thought out, from the cosy
mess of Meryl's flat to the relaxed atmosphere of a summer afternoon's
game of cricket.

McInnes, flashing those baby blues, is excellent as thoughtful but
troubled Nick.

His unpredictable moments of closeness, then shyness, with Meryl bring
a believable unease to their relationship.

Clarke is also excellent and plays a character with whom many women
will sympathise.

She wants Nick in her life but is also more than a little bit terrified
of having him there.

Not long after they've met, he takes her home to meet his Mum.
It's a bit keen on his behalf and painfully funny seeing her trying
to make a good impression and work out what on earth this man is
about.

Funded through the State Government's Adelaide Film Festival Investment
Fund, it was a great choice to launch the festival.

Look Both Ways - made on the summery streets of Port Adelaide - was
worth the wait.

Between it and the upcoming Wolf Creek and December Boys, it's a great
time for our home-grown film industry.
Copyright 2005 / Sunday Mail (SA)