Jan Adele Movies
Australian actress Jan Adele will be more remembered for her work on television, but she did manage to find success in film as well, being the recipient of an Australian Film Institute Best Actress award in 1987 for the film High Tide. Her acting career began when she was three years old and spanned 60 years, until her death in early 2000. ~ Rovi
Three years before he became a household name in Hollywood with 1997's L.A. Confidential, Russell Crowe starred in this Australian drama, the directorial debuts of Geoff Burton and Kevin Dowling. Crowe plays Jeff Mitchell, a young gay man and the son of widower Harry Mitchell (Jack Thompson). The two live together while they both search for a special someone with whom to spend their lives. And while Harry is more than comfortable with Jeff's sexuality, his new lady friend isn't, leading to tension and a personal struggle for Harry. Based on the play by screenwriter David Stevens, The Sum of Us was the 1994 recipient of the Austalian Film Institute's Best Adapted Screenplay award. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jack Thompson, Russell Crowe, (more)
- 1992
Lawn bowling is a very different sport from the kind that occurs indoors; it is an almost meditative exercise resembling nothing so much as horseshoes and is much favored by the elderly in one Sydney suburb. In this low-key comedy, the lad who works very diligently to keep the bowling green immaculate has just gotten out of jail. Despite his good intentions and energetic hard work, he's just not very effective. Maybe it's all the pot he and his wife have been smoking, as now the two of them are in debt to their dealer for thousands of dollars. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Max Cullen
- 1991
- R
Set in New South Wales, Australia, a local hairdresser falls in love with an enigmatic wanderer and leaves her tiny hometown behind to travel along with him. She is madly in love with him, but eventually comes to question her infatuation when she begins suspecting him of being a killer, a hunch fueled by the corpses that seem to follow them wherever they go. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Linda Blair, Jerome Ehlers, (more)
- 1989
In this light romantic comedy, Daisy (Jan Adele) is an old woman living out her life on a run-down farm in the Australian outback. She has grown slovenly and lazy, rarely venturing out of bed. When Simon (Sean Scully), a young and rootless man lands on her doorstep, at first she has nothing to offer him but abuse. He endures her vituperation and shames her into taking an interest in her life for the first time since her husband Harry died. Before long, they have taken a shine to each other. These developments don't sit well with Daisy's daughter Joan (Shaunna O'Grady), who is determined to ship her off to an old-age home and fears she may be acquiring a stepfather who is younger than she is. After she finds out that Simon is on the run from the law, she triumphantly informs Daisy of this fact. To her great chagrin, this information has no effect whatsoever. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jan Adele, Sean Scully, (more)
Originally released in Australia as Wendy Cracked a Walnut, Almost made it to American shores in 1991, nearly five years after its completion. Rosanna Arquette plays Wendy, whose notions of life have been formed by romance novels. On her tenth wedding anniversary, Wendy hopes that her neglectful husband Ronnie (Bruce Spence) will rekindle his premarital ardor. While Ronnie is delayed by circumstances beyond his control (including a bolt of lightning), Wendy makes the acquaintance of handsome stranger Jake (Hugo Weaving). Convinced that Ronnie is cheating on her, Wendy decides to fight fire with fire by running off with Jake-just like in one of her Harlequin Romances. Ronnie tries his best (which is none too good) to win his wife back, leading to an archly whimsical finale. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Rosanna Arquette, Bruce Spence, (more)
- 1987
- PG13
Gillian Armstrong directed this powerful and moving film containing a brilliant performance by Judy Davis. The story takes place in the small New South Wales seaside village of Eden. Davis is Lillie, who is renting a run-down trailer as she waits for her car to be repaired. One night, when Lillie is drunk and cannot walk from the toilet block back to her trailer, a teenage girl, Ally (Claudia Karvan) -- who lives with her free-spirited grandmother Bet (Jan Adele) in another trailer in the trailer park -- helps her back home. Lillie and Ally become good friends, and it is only when Lillie finally meets Bet that she realizes that Ally is, in fact, her own daughter, who she abandoned years earlier after the death of her husband. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Judy Davis, Jan Adele, (more)
- 1976
The "Caddie" in this Australian thriller is not of the golfing variety, but is instead the nicknamed bestowed upon the heroine. Helen Morse plays a barmaid in 1930s Sydney whose husband walks out on her. Left with two kids to raise by herself, Helen struggles to make ends meet without losing her self-respect. Her favorite customer is Takis Emmanuel, who likens Helen to an expensive Cadillac (or "Caddie"). Romance blossoms between the two lost souls. Also appearing in Caddie is ubiquitous Aussie character actor Jack Thompson. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Helen Morse, Takis Emmanuel, (more)
