Chris Haywood Movies

When a pay cut sends Australian dock workers on strike, a group of Italian immigrants are hired to take their place, causing much resentment and hatred on both sides. However, when an Italian woman and an Australian man start up a passionate affair, they discover that they must work to preserve their relationship and stay true to their fellow countrymen. ~ Iotis Erlewine, All Movie Guide

This patchy, uneven combination of fantasy and musical comedy is hilarious in parts and embarrassing in others, though the premise has great potential in itself -- a screwball Captain Invincible is out to save the world from his nemesis, Mr. Midnight, the white supremacist. Captain Invincible (Alan Arkin) is wallowing in his cups in the Australian outback when he receives an unusual call from the American President asking for his help. Unusual because the Captain had no choice but to go into exile after Joseph McCarthy's Un-American Activities Committee became suspicious of his red cape, and he has never been sober enough to recover from the shock. This history is given in a mock newsreel at the beginning of the film. But now Mr. Midnight is threatening to dismember New York City by convincing all the ethnic groups to live along the seashore. Once they are situated on beachfront property, he will blast out a crack in the earth behind them, cut their connection to the mainland, and send them drifting off into the Atlantic. It seems the dastardly Midnight has stolen the ultra-secret hypno-ray and can slice off New Jersey whenever he wants. Weakened by depression and alcohol, Captain Invincible is nursed back to full throttle by Patty Patria (Kate Fitzpatrick) and is soon ready to zoom over Sydney to the far side of the globe -- after practicing in harness in front of rear-projected scenes. Meanwhile, Mr. Midnight and his sidekick are all set to defend their turf, and their ability to slice it up -- though the (American) patriotic sentimentality that prevails in the end, after several other songs have come and gone, is summarized in a rendition of "God Bless America" that conflicts with the opening scenes and may leave foreign audiences cold. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Ron (Jon Blake), a young man in his late teens or early 20s, but emotionally younger, has no visible, employable assets, including the ability to articulate, yet he rails at his status in life -- blaming everyone for the fact that his dreams are not coming true. Actually, his main dream is driving down the highway in a Porsche with a sophisticated woman in the passenger seat -- and in this dream, an ominous-looking black limousine just ahead of him starts swerving back and forth and finally dives off the edge of a cliff. In order to fulfill his fantasy, he steals a Porsche and takes off down the road. While on his joy ride, he stops at a roadside eatery and meets the errant Sally, who is on her way to retrieve her baby from a pair of foster parents. The two set off together, and nothing at all goes their way -- Sally fails in her mission, Ron runs down a policeman then has to get rid of Sally and devise some way to escape the law -- now after him in force. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Heatwave is the mildly interesting story of a woman's attempt to stop a redevelopment plot which she thought was the cover-up for fraud and other criminal activity. Kate (Judy Davis), through her own efforts, manages to find some evidence to support her claims and also have a romance. Davis gives an energetic performance as the crusading woman, but the script lacks a convincing plot or characters. While it has some good moments, Heatwave is primarily notable because it was one of the earlier efforts of Australian director Phillip Noyce, who went on to make the very exciting Dead Calm. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

Mike (Terry Serio) is an attractive, sexually appealing factory worker and Fox (Richard Moir) is his racing nemesis. Both are after the same woman, Julie (Debbie Conway), dueling it out on the road and in personal encounters. Julie and Mike (whom she favors) go to an odd blind man named Rebel to get some help in winning the races -- blind or not, he still seems to know the most about cars -- and maybe he will make the difference in the competition with Fox. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Although the scripting, acting, and plot lines are less than ideal, this dramatized documentary merits attention since it is the first Australian initiative to chronicle the experiences of Aboriginals from their own perspective, allowing the audience to view the behavior of the white majority from the "wrong side of the road." As the real bands "Us Mob" and "No Fixed Address" make their way through the country on a road tour, they encounter mistreatment from an arrogant hotel manager, physical and verbal abuse from the police, and are ignored by uncaring government officials. One outlet for their plight is music, and their lyrics praise their skills at survival in a hostile world. This film won the Jury Prize at the 1981 Australian Film Festival. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Breaker Morant is one of the most acclaimed Australian films, telling a powerful tale of wartime betrayal and injustice. Henry "Breaker" Morant (Edward Woodward) is an Englishman living in Australia at the end of the 19th century. When war breaks out in 1899 between Britain and the Boers (descendants of Dutch colonists), Morant and a number of Australians volunteer for duty and are absorbed into the non-regular units of the British army. Acting under orders from his commanders, Morant oversees the execution of several Boer prisoners; it turns out that one of them was German, and in order to keep the peace with Germany, Britain agrees to courtmartial Morant and two other soldiers, sentencing two to death and one to life imprisonment. Based on a play by Kenneth Ross, Bruce Beresford's film is powerfully filmed and acted and has become a classic anti-war movie since its 1980 release; the script (co-written by Beresford) was nominated for an Academy Award. The final execution scene is nearly overpowering in its sense of tragedy and futility. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide

In this Australian drama, a man serves his six-year prison sentence for participating in a robbery and then tries to return home after his release. His former crime partners are waiting for him and angrily beat him up because he doesn't know where the loot from their last robbery is hidden. The hitchhiking ex-con is picked up by a mentally unstable model driving a 1938 sedan. Once they arrive, he learns that his mother has killed herself and that his girl friend has mysteriously disappeared. After that he and the model set out to find her. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

A love triangle provides the basis of this subtle drama that centers upon a man living with one woman and loving another on the side. The trouble begins when the live-in catches him with the other. Though it hurts her at first, she and the other woman soon become close friends, much closer to each other than to the man who inadvertently introduced them. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

This comedy, based on Barry Oakley's popular novel Salute to the Great McCarthy chronicles the adventurous and amorous exploits of an Australian country boy. The whole mess begins when the strapping lad is kidnapped and taken to Melbourne to play Australian Rules Football. The perpetrator and owner of the team is Colonel Humphries who also gives the young man a job in his insurance company. There the lad has great fun making love to a series of women--including the colonel's daughter. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide