Ned Kelly

It's always tough with a subject that suffers from Titanic Syndrome - there can be no jeopardy about the final outcome so it really does boil down to the quality of the writing and the acting as to whether or not we are going to bother to sit through it... Heath Ledger isn't bad at all in the title role, an Australian from Irish (and criminal) stock who falls foul once too often of the frequently corrupt police, takes matters into his own hands and with his brother Dan (Laurence Kinlan) and Orlando Bloom (Joseph Byrne), amongst others, turns into an Antipodean version of Robin Hood - determined to redress the pretty in-your-face imbalances of society in Victoria and New South Wales. Bloom's accent is straight out of "Finian's Rainbow" but Naomi Watts is good as Julia as is Kris McQuade as his mother Ellen. Geoffrey Rush is drafted in by the government to lead the chasing constabulary, but his usually dominant presence doesn't quite work here - he doesn't really have enough to do/say. Those really observant amongst us might spot Charles Tingwell (think "Inspector Craddock") towards the end, too. It's violent but not brutal - we are shown a side of Kelly that has been driven to the course of action and although he doesn't exactly hate it; he has scruples. The detail is good; we get a sense of the relative squalor in which they lived, and the writing and direction are taut and well paced. From what little I know of the man, and his gang, this isn't the most accurate depiction of his brief moment in the limelight, but on balance, it is worth sitting through...