Brilliant and touching

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

I'd heard of this film back when it was first released, hailed as one of the new breed of films being released from the Australian/New Zealand part of the world. Along with several others that were making a splash at the time critics loved the movie and couldn't say enough good about it. So when the chance to view it arose I was looking forward to it. The movie features Bruno Lawrence as Al Shaw, a down on his luck race car drivers whose life didn't take the turns he planned. Having not raced in some time Al drives a tow truck and lives at Smash Palace, a junk yard he owns for battered old cars, along with his wife Jacqui (Anna Maria Monticelli) and young daughter Georgie (Greer Robson-Kirk). Having met his wife while recovering from a crash this was not the life she saw for herself. Still young she longs for parties and socializing, skills that Al lacks. While Al dreams of returning to the track in a new car he's been working on, Jacqui wants to sell the junkyard and move away.On the night of a scheduled party Al stays home with his daughter while Jacqui goes to a party that was planned. Too drunk to drive she gets a ride home with Ray (Keith Aberdein), a local constable and best friend of Al. A few flirtatious moments pass between the two but nothing happens, not that Jacqui might not like it to. Tensions between the couple grow as the film progresses. It's not that either of them is a bad person but the plans they both had for their lives run different courses. The non-communicative Al is obsessed with the cars and junk yard his father once owned and Jacqui longs for the life she once led while living in Paris. Between the two of them and suffering some potential future emotional damage of her own is young Georgie who sits in bed at night listening to the two of them fighting.Things eventually reach fever pitch and Jacqui moves out with Georgie leaving Al behind but with visitation rights. Once gone she does indeed take up with Ray, a second betrayal in the eyes of Al and rightfully so. As Jacqui continues to push Al away, eventually filing a restraining order on him from seeing Georgie, he breaks down. He kidnaps Georgie, fakes their death and hides in the woods. Only Georgie getting ill brings him back to town and a potential showdown with Jacqui, Ray and the police.Viewers should not be misled into thinking this is an action film or a Road Warrior clone. I've known people who see the fact of where it was made and shots of the open road who have done so. In fact the movie is a much deeper drama about the breakup of a loving couple that perhaps were never destined to be together in the first place. What makes it truly tragic is that they have a child that both love and when one withholds that child from the other it delivers a punching blow that drives a man to near madness.The movie is the second feature film from director Roger Donaldson who went on to direct THE BOUNTY, COCKTAIL and NO WAY OUT. While very well done it shows his early development. Some of the scenes feel repetitive but help flesh out the story of what's going on here. He has a nice eye for camera placement and what he wants to pull out of his actors, something that you can tell he grew into with each film.The performances here are wonderful, especially that from Lawrence. It's one thing to portray a man driven to desperate acts by a woman he once loved but to play him in such a way that induces sympathy rather than hating him takes skill. Monticelli does a nice job as well but doesn't come off near as sympathetic, instead coming across as petty and focusing more on herself than her family. Once can understand her disappointment in the way things have turned out but not the methods she employs nor her decision to go after her soon to be ex's best friend. Robson-Kirk gives one of the best child acting performances on screen never seeming like a child or like she's acting. On the whole the movie held my interested and not being incredibly savvy on Australian/New Zealand cinema prior to the wave of films that came out of this period I would say it was a good step in drawing attention to the location and films made there. The film provides plenty of drama and story which many films, even today, seem to be lacking. It's well thought out, well constructed, well acted and holds your interests from start to finish. The film is being released on blu-ray as part of the Arrow Academy series from Arrow Video. As with all of their offerings the film is presented in the best looking format possible. Extras include a commentary track featuring Donaldson and stunt drive Steve Millen, THE MAKING OF SMASH PALACE a 52 minute documentary featuring interviews with cast and crew, the theatrical trailer, a reversible sleeve with new artwork by Sean Phillips and for the first pressing only an illustrated collectors booklet featuring new writing on the film by Ian Barr, a contemporary review by Pauline Kael and the original press book.

Bruno Lawrence owns and operates the titular auto wrecking yard, and races cars when he gets the chance. He took over the business when his father died, planning on selling it right away, but has grown to love it and won't sell. His wife hates it, and hates the fact that Lawrence spends all his time with his cars and his young daughter and none with her. Her displeasure drives her into the arms of Bruno's best friend, and when she leaves, taking his daughter with her, Bruno cracks and kidnaps her. Roger Donaldson's third feature is more of a character drama than his earlier films, though it has a somewhat action based climax. It's a generally intriguing film where nobody is completely right or wrong, and it goes in eccentric directions.

Married couple in New Zealand with a young child separate, but he can't let go. Art-house stunner delivers some amazingly raw and complicated emotions in its early stages, but then gets confused and falls off. This isn't the fault of the actors however, particularly Bruno Lawrence in what should've been a star-making performance. Maybe it's the fact that his character is so morose and troubled (at one point, with the family piled in the car, he pauses on the railroad tracks) that Lawrence wasn't given much credit, and the film failed to find an audience here in the States. Some light relief from all the crazy behavior might've helped, yet the picture has a prickly, compelling edge, and that's surely something the audience can latch onto. Sadly, this melodramatic roller-coaster of emotions does peter out, though for the first hour it showcases a gripping study of human lives. **1/2 from ****

I saw this movie while on vacation in New Zealand and loved it. Lawrence gives a terrific portrayal of a man whose life is thrown into chaos when his obsession with building a race car and paying more attention to his new car junkyard leads his wife to an affair with his best friend. He then kidnaps their daughter and heads for the woods. If you can find this movie anywhere, rent it. You won't regret it. The final scene to this film is especially memorable. I will not reveal it-you will have to see it to find out. You will never forget it, that's for sure. ***1/2 out of ****