Film No. 86 (2015) Looking For Grace December 1st.

Film No. 86 (2015) December 1st.  6.00 PM LUNA Leederville. 

"I don't think we'll need to be checking the dental records on this one". (Tom (Terry Norris) jokes to Grace's parents as he assists them in the search for their daughter).

                                                  

                                                   

 

I was looking forward to the Western Australian premiere of Looking for Grace on two fronts. Firstly, I'm a W.A. boy so I love seeing the countryside so familiar from my childhood, depiced on the big screen in all it's golden glory. Secondly, after Japanese Story I was keen to see Writer, Director Sue Brooke's next project.

 

Unfortunately, Looking for Grace doesn't match Japanese Story in it's ability to satisfy as a quality example of story telling. Brookes likes to take everyday people and place them in classic "man in a mess" real life situations. Looking for Grace is not told in traditional fashion, it is told in chapters, each chapter told from a key character's POV with familiar scenes revisited. While directors such as Jarmusch (Mystery Train) and Altman (Short Cuts) have explored this technique successfully Brookes efforts are only partially rewarded in Grace. 

 

Looking for Grace is a puzzle of a film. Each chapter presents a few pieces of that puzzle as we learn new facts about why Grace has left home without consulting her parents. Where is she headed? Who are these people she's with? We begin to feel more secure in the chase for clues when each new chapter starts refocusing the mission of finding Grace through the eyes of another of the film's key characters. The quirkiness of film lies in the script. Norris's dental records quip is either ill judged or down right black, and the film gives me no way of categorizing it.

 

Like a new car running on standard unleaded petrol when it should be running on premium, Looking for Grace splutters then surges. I'm not sure the actors know exactly how they should feel during the closing scenes; they certainly aren't convincing. But the film has a unique feel and I'm glad to have spent some premium moments in the Western Australian wheatbelt, a place I know so well. Sue Brookes has a great eye for the Australian landscape, I hope she continues to "push that envelope". 6GUMS.