Indie Gems: Tracks

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Walkabout. 

Tracks follows Robyn Davidson (Mia Wasikowska) as she intends to make a 1,700 mile trek across the desert alone. She's sick of it all. Sick of city life, and she seems sick of people too. Since Australia has a large ferel camel population, she intends to tame 3 camels to carry her gear. She takes the time to work on camel farms to learn more about them. She writes a letter to National Geographic to sponsor her trip, and they agree to do so if American, Rick (Adam Driver) can meet up with her occasionally and take her picture along the way.

Depending on who you are, this is a film about a seemingly lost woman on the quest for self discovery, or according to some people online, a "horrid animal abuser who makes her dog walk along with her and steals wild animals and forces them to carry her shit." I've heard that last one in several places. Still, a film like this sounds pretty boring on paper, but was anything but on screen. Director John Curran, who brought us The Painted Veil (which is very underrated, I might add) treats this film in a similiar fashion. It's beautifully shot and he gets a great performance out of Wasikowska who carries the film. Driver plays a good, annoying character for the bit of screen time he gets. Rick and Robyn's relationship was certainly interesting.

There's dog death, which sucks. I knew it was coming so my wussy self fast forwarded through that. It did feel a bit like the Australian version of The Wild, but the film features beautiful cinematography and a great performance by the always wonderful lead actress. It might not sound that interesting on paper, but it certainly is. 

Grade: B

Memorable Quote: "The universe gave us three things to make life bearable: hope, jokes, and dogs. But the greatest of these was dogs." - Robyn (Mia Wasikowska)

Comments

  1. AnonymousJune 5, 2015 at 7:31 AM

    I'm never sure if I like her. I'm positive I hate him.
    I watched her on a show called In Treatment - have you seen it?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJune 5, 2015 at 7:42 AM

      I haven't! I remember that show being on and only lasting a few seasons though. Driver is growing on me. I hate Girls and everything on that show, but I've enjoyed him in other things.

      Delete
  2. AnonymousJune 5, 2015 at 8:23 AM

    I had no idea this was directed by Curran. I LOVE The Painted Veil...so underrated is right! I really need to see this. Josh was high on this too.

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownJune 5, 2015 at 2:19 PM

    This is an interesting premise, but I'm not sure I'm up for a movie with a dog death. I love The Painted Veil though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJune 6, 2015 at 9:43 AM

      I hate dog death. The IMDb synopsis is very detailed on when it happened, so as soon as I saw those scenes starts I skipped it.

      Delete
  4. thevoid99June 5, 2015 at 8:18 PM

    OK, I don't think I can watch a movie where a dog dies unless it's a bad one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJune 6, 2015 at 9:43 AM

      lol The fast forward button is one of the greatest inventions.

      Delete
  5. rhysgdruryJune 7, 2015 at 9:56 PM

    Seeing as this one is a local production for me, I should really take the time to watch it. Great review Brittani! :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. JoshJune 11, 2015 at 9:25 PM

    I really liked this movie, as Drew mentioned. Wasikowska is fantastic, as is the cinematography. A- for me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamJune 15, 2015 at 4:21 PM

      I threw it in my Netflix queue after reading your review.

      Delete

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