Set on the stunning coast of Western Australia, arrives Gregor Jordan’s adaption of Tim Winton’s acclaimed novel “Dirt Music.” A romance and mystery, the film follows Georgie (Kelly Macdonald) and Lu’s (Garrett Hedlund) quickly evolving love affair. Married to the jealous fisherman Jim Buckridge (David Wenham), and wondering how he ever swooped off her feet, Georgie lives a loveless and dull marriage. Lu, on the other hand, is haunted by ghosts from his past. Their union, formed after Georgie catches Lu poaching lobsters due to Lu discovering Georgie night swimming in the nude, sets up a chain of events mirroring a Shakespearean love affair—while soon devolving into a preposterous conspiracy.
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“Dirt Music’s” first 45 minutes is actually exciting. The kindling of Georgie and Lu’s relationship: two lonely people finding solace in one another—as her controlling husband stalks their every move is reminiscent of “Big Little Lies.” Meanwhile, Lu’s poaching of fish gives the film a sense of suspense—as grave consequences exist for him if he’s caught. But it’s the mystery concerning Lu’s family that weaves itself throughout Jordan’s film. Once part of a band called the Foxes with his brother and sister-in-law (Julia Stone), he was a doting uncle to his precocious niece Bird (Ava Caryofyllis). Now, he mourns them, haunted by their memories. And while we’re not sure how they died, we do know that the tragedy is common knowledge in the area. Georgie and Lu’s burgeoning love, the envious husband that keeps them apart, the mystery behind Lu’s family, and an abundance of shirtless Hedlund shots initially sustains “Dirt Music.”
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However, the film devolves when Lu flees from his home. Is he leaving because of retribution for his poaching or the ghosts within his mind? Whatever the answer, “Dirt Music” quickly becomes a Nicholas Sparks book. Because while Lu is leaving to find solitude, he decides to send Georgie clues to his whereabouts. The film creates a test of his affection, as Georgie decidedly searches for him, following the trail left behind in the hopes of reuniting with her love. While Hedlund and Macdonald exhibit incredible chemistry, the outlandishness of the twists “Dirt Music” takes makes their performances nearly impossible to appreciate due to their cartoon buggery. Working with “Notebook”-level cheese, here the story’s stale.
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And while “Dirt Music” does provide great music, the folksy harmony style of the Foxes, there’s one song that’s incessantly repeated enough that it becomes meaningless. And, while the Australian countryside of the bush is alighted by enrapturing sunsets, those visuals aren’t enough to make up for a tawdry story that lacks any depth and sets its romance adrift in a sea of events more random than the foam that forms on top the waves. “Dirt Music” isn’t initially a head-splitting film, but Jordan’s overlong 105-minute love story doesn’t know how to let unrequited love take center stage without near-murder mysteries attached to the side—which makes the former into a massive missed opportunity. [D]
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