Alice Garner Movies

A family is touched by the shadows of hatred and violence in this Australian drama adapted from a short story by Raymond Carver. Stewart (Gabriel Byrne) and Claire (Laura Linney) are a married couple in their early fourties; Stewart runs a gas station while Claire looks after their son, Tom (Sean Rees-Wemyss). Tom has been grounded for the weekend after killing a small animal with his friend Caylin (Eva Lazzaro), and Claire keeps an eye on him while Stewart goes off on a fishing trip with his pals Carl (John Howard), Rocco (Stelios Yiakmis), and Billy (Simon Stone). After arriving at their favorite fishing spot, Stewart finds the naked body of a woman floating down the river; unbeknownst to him, Gregory (Chris Haywood), an elderly man riddled with racial hatred, killed Susan (Tatea Reilly), a young woman of Aboriginal heritage, and dumped her body in the water. Believing they wouldn't be able to drive to town to report finding the body and get back to make camp before nightfall, Stewart decides to wait until morning to contact the police, and ties a line to the corpse so it won't float away. The next morning, Stewart and his friends decide not to spoil their trip and spend the day fishing; they don't contact the police until after they return home on Monday. Stewart's callous actions cast an ugly light on himself, his friends, and his family, and Claire finds herself implicated in the crime through Stewart's poor judgment. Named for an Aboriginal word for a valley, Jindabyne received its world premiere at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Australian college students struggle to deal with school, romance, and life in general in first-time director Emma-Kate Croghan's comedy. The film's focus falls on cinema studies major Mia (France O'Connor) and her roommate Alice (Alice Garner), both of whom find themselves in romantic flux. Alice is torn between the cocky Ari (Matthew Dyktynski) and the shy but loyal Michael (Matt Day), while Mia is in the midst of a messy break-up with her girlfriend Danni (Radha Mitchell). Further complicating Mia's life are her unfinished thesis (on the feminist implications of Doris Day films) and her struggles with the college administration, which provide the opportunity for gentle satire of academia and the frustrations of bureaucracy. The characters deal with their troubles through articulate, questioning dialogue, and Croghan punctuates the film with title screens featuring famous quotes and with attempts to liven up the relatively familiar story with occasional forays into art-film stylization. Most critics viewed the film as a promising debut, with likable characters and a charming romantic tone, if an inconsequential narrative. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

Monkey Grip is a frank portrayal of a year in the life of a divorced mother (Noni Hazlehurst) living in Melbourne, trying to cope with her daughter and her own relationship with a drug addict while trying to get into the music business. ~ John Bush, Rovi