Bill Hunter Movies

Temptation turns a man's life upside down in this noir-influenced thriller from Australia. Ray Yale (David Roberts) is a construction worker who is married to Martha (Lucy Bell) and is helping to build an upscale resort hotel just outside Sydney. Ray isn't entirely happy in his marriage, and his roving eye has become focused on Carla (Claire van der Boom), a hairdresser who lives next door. Carla is married to a low-level mobster, Greg (Anthony Hayes), but she craves excitement and is soon having a torrid affair with Ray. Carla knows that Greg has a large bundle of cash hidden in their home, and she hatches a scheme she shares with Ray -- they steal they money, set fire to the house, and run off together, with Greg imagining the cash was lost in the blaze. While Ray isn't interested in a life of crime, he can't say no to Carla, but when he develops cold feet at the last minute, his attempts to reach Billy (Joel Edgerton), who was hired to torch the house, are unsuccessful, and things take a turn for the worse when he learns that Greg's aged mother was in the house when it burned to the ground. Ray quickly realizes he's been implicated in a murder, and Billy doesn't hesitate to use this knowledge to his advantage. The Square was the first directorial project for Nash Edgerton, who previously was one of the leading stuntmen in the Aussie film industry. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

A pair of Melbourne detectives working in the Zero Tolerance Unit set out to uncover a web of corruption in the directorial debut of famed Australian comic Tony Martin. Though a highly publicized accident involving a dead magistrate quickly relegates dedicated lawmen Ben Kinnear (Mick Molloy) and Mike Paddock (Bob Franklin) back to lowly uniformed duty, the pair can't help but notice an odd link between the accident and the questionable business associations of a suspicious casino boss they had been investigating. Realizing that they can no longer accept the widespread corruption that surrounds them, Ben and Mike set out to bust the crooked casino hustler and rid their city of the criminal element. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Pressured by money hungry Bernie (John Clarke) to redevelop their club and install poker machines when the begin having financial difficulties, Cityside Bowling Club members Stan (Bill Hunter), Len (Frank Wilson) and Eileen (Monica Maughan) make a last ditch effort to enter a tournament and win the prize money needed to stay afloat. Desperate to form a winning team, the ageing trio quickly learns that dispite his lack of presence, young Jack Simpson (Mick Molloy) has held a membership for years for the sole purpose of maintaing a cheap parking spot - not to mention renting out a few on the side for a little profit. Finally called on to serve his duty as an actual member, will Jack pitch in to save to club from certain extinction, or simply drive a few extra blocks to find another parking spot. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Two low-level American crooks head to Australia, where they match wits with a kangaroo (who appears to have an intellectual edge on his pursuers) in this broad comedy. Charlie Carbone (Jerry O'Connell) is a hairdresser from Brooklyn whose best friend, Louis Booker (Anthony Anderson), scrapes together a living moving stolen merchandise. Charlie's stepfather, Sal Maggio (Christopher Walken), is a crime kingpin who has loaned Charlie a lot of money and wants to know when he'll get it back; Sal's not especially fond of Louis, especially after he and Charlie accidentally lead the police to a storehouse of burgled goods owned by Sal. Charlie owes Sal a big favor, and Sal wants Charlie and Louis out of his hair for a while, so Sal sends them to Australia, where they're to deliver a large amount of cash to a mysterious Mr. Smith (Marton Csokas). En route to their meeting in the outback, Charlie and Louis accidentally run over a kangaroo, and the half-bright tourists decide to dress the dead marsupial in sunglasses and Louis' favorite jacket for snapshots. However, the animal wasn't as dead as they imagined, and it soon hops away, shortly after Louis realizes the payment to Mr. Smith was in the pocket. Now Louis and Charlie are out to find the fast-moving critter, with the help of Jessie (Estella Warren), a wildlife expert; Mr. Jimmy (David Ngoombujarra), a wilderness guide; and Blue (Bill Hunter), a pilot familiar with the outback. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

The thriller A Difficult Woman features Caroline Goodall as Anne, a pathologist for a multinational drug corporation. Her good life takes a turn for the worse after her best friend is killed. Anne decides she must solve the mystery of the murder and starts applying her scientific skills to the evidence. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Though featuring a simple straightforward story of a small town turned upside down when a car carrying four members of the local women's bowling team flips over and leaves the occupants trapped and hanging, it is the sprightly performances of the ensemble cast that make this quirky Australian comedy special. The first person on the scene of the bizarre accident is Maurie, a somewhat dim-bulbed pig farmer. Unable to think of a way to help poor Margot, Nell, Jean and Carmel -- the ladies inside the car -- he goes off to call the Emergency Services. Unfortunately, the fire department doesn't understand Maurie and can't decide whether he said the women were on Nhill Road (it's pronounced "Nil") or the road to Nhill, and they immediately speed off in the wrong direction. The town sheriff is nowhere in sight. Meanwhile Maurie returns with Brian, a vegetable farmer who just can't cope with the horror of it all, and they both fret about what they should do. As they worry and figuratively wring their hands, the women try to figure out how to save themselves. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Sleazy real estate wheeler-dealer Ben Egan (Aden Young) is brought up short when a deal catastrophically falls through. After he hits a policeman, Egan winds up doing several months of community service at a youth drop-in center. Before that, he had been all set up to marry the boss's daughter (Tammy MacIntosh) and rise swiftly in the old man's firm. The woman who runs the center (Essie Davis), and one of the children get his attention and he begins to have charitable thoughts occasionally. However, old habits die hard. When he learns that the youth center is situated in a prime development area, he tries very hard to get hold of the property. Will his growing conscience break through the shell he has built around it in time to prevent him from closing this deal? ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

Celebrated Australian filmmaker Mike Jenkins helms this controversial, true-life tale of police corruption in New South Wales that was banned from airing in the state where the events occurred for six years due to ongoing legal proceedings. Decorated police officer Roger "The Dodger" Rogerson (Richard Roxburgh) was a shining example of law enforcement at its most commendable; until he made a deal with the devil, that is. When Rogerson enters into a deadly partnership with career criminal Arthur "Neddy" Smith (Tony Martin) that gives the violent psychopath free reign to run rampant through the Sydney underworld, the stage is set for tragedy as guns on both sides start blazing. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

The usually menacing British actor Terence Stamp does a complete turnaround as Bernadette, an aging transsexual who tours the backwaters of Australia with her stage partners, Mitzi (Hugo Weaving) and Adam/Felicia (Guy Pearce). Their act, well-known in Sydney, involves wearing lots of makeup and gowns and lip-synching to records, but Bernadette is getting a bit tired of it all and is also haunted by the bizarre death of an old loved one. Nevertheless, when Mitzi and Felicia get an offer to perform in the remote town of Alice Springs at a casino, Bernadette decides to tag along. The threesome ventures into the outback with Priscilla, a lavender-colored school bus that doubles as dressing room and home on the road. Along the way, the act encounters any number of strange characters, as well as incidents of homophobia, while Bernadette becomes increasingly concerned about the path her life has taken. ~ Don Kaye, Rovi

In this moody black and white drama, very much in the mode of the American "western," but with its own film noir characteristics, a whole town is heaved out of its doldrums when a pair of mysterious strangers come visiting. In the beginning of the film, Angel (Aden Young) is traveling with his friend Max (Dennis Miller) on a ship to Honeyfield, a town on the coast of Australia. He is coming home to die. Instead, he dies on board the ship, willing his boots to Angel, and an unopened package to someone called "The Dead Man," in Honeyfield. Also on the ship is a man named Tatts (David Field), a far less pleasant personality. When Angel gets off to head into Honeyfield, Tatts decides to follow along unseen. The package, Angel was told, contains something its intended recipient has been looking for without knowing it. On finding the recipient, a mean-spirited old man (Norman Kaye) who is more or less the boss and owner of the town, he learns that the package contains opium. Angel gets involved with other citizens of the town, and gets to know what became of the woman Max was coming back to. Just being a fresh face is enough to stir things up, but Angel brings things to a boil by bringing up memories of the past. The pot boils over, though, when Tatt comes into town and begins playing his games. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

We usually assume that a Shotgun Wedding involves one each angry father, unwilling groom, and a compromised (usually pregnant) bride. However, although the bride is pregnant, in this Australian movie, the shotgun is being wielded by a couple of crooked policeman who are angry that a young convict has put the finger on one of them. Eventually, the "cavalry," in the form of honest policemen, rescue the couple, who are then able to marry. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

This wildly off-beat comedy is about a male dancer (Paul Mercurio) who refuses to follow the accepted rules of ballroom dancing and creates his own style of choreography, which infuriates the ballroom dancing establishment. Before he's scheduled to compete in the Pan-Pacific ballroom championships, he's forced to take up a new partner (Tara Morice), a beginner who initially seems without promise. With his help, she turns into an assured and wonderful dancer. Baz Luhrmann's visual style may be too bright, gaudy and exaggerated for some tastes, yet he treats his characters with compassion, which makes Strictly Ballroom such an engaging comedy. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Rovi