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Overview

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Lantana, 2001

Starring: Anthony LaPaglia, Geoffrey Rush

Directed by: Ray Lawrence

Written by: Andrew Bovell

Language: English

Country: Australia, Germany

Runtime: 121 min

MPAA Rating: R

Rating:7.4

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Profile of Lantana

Lantana can be described as clever, gloomy, and tense. The plot revolves around a police investigation, a police detective, and infidelity. The main genres are drama and mystery. In terms of style, Lantana is a melodrama, stars an ensemble cast, and is talky. In approach, it is serious and realistic. The storytelling is slow paced. Lantana is set, at least in part, in the suburbs. It is located in Australia. It takes place in contemporary times. Lantana is adapted from a play. The movie has received attention for being an award winner and critically acclaimed. Note that it involves sexual content and profanity.

Summary of Lantana

Ray Lawrence's LANTANA is an intelligent, well-written, well-acted film that is much more than just another cop thriller--it's more like YOU CAN COUNT ON ME with its realistic, complex relationships and believable characters. The film opens with a slow pan over a dead body, eerily reminiscent of BLUE VELVET. Anthony LaPaglia stars as Leon, a Sydney police detective who is cheating on his wife, Sonja (Kerry Armstrong), with a married woman from their dance class (Rachael Blake), even though he still loves his wife. There's something missing from his life, but he's not sure what. His relationship with his son is strained, and even his partner, Claudia (Leah Purcell), knows something is wrong. But as his affair heats up and a murder mystery that seems to involve all of the people in his life begins to consume his attentions, he is forced to reexamine his future both as a family man and a cop.

LANTANA won seven Australian Film Institute Awards, including best picture, best director for Lawrence, best actor for LaPaglia, best actress for Armstrong, best supporting awards for both Blake and Colosimo, and best adapted screenplay by Andrew Bovell, who based the script on his play SPEAKING IN TONGUES. As the murder investigation gets more complicated and the tangled web leads to even more lying, cheating, and deception, the acting intensifies, and the sharp dialogue allows the characters to blossom as beautifully as the lantana bush referred to in the title.

Details

Language:	English
Country:	Australia, Germany
Release date:	1 September 2001
Runtime:	121 min

Cast and Crew See all

Anthony LaPaglia

as Detective Leon Zat

Geoffrey Rush

as John Knox

Photos See all

Rachael Blake as Jane in Lantana (2001)

Lantana (2001)

Anthony LaPaglia as Leon and Kerry Armstrong as Sonja in Lantana (2001)

Barbara Hershey as Valerie in Lantana (2001)

Geoffrey Rush as John in Lantana (2001)

Clips See all

Lantana: Theatrical

Critics Reviews See all

San Francisco Chronicle

Stuns with writing, acting, direction. Full Review

|
by: Mick LaSalle

The New York Times

Astonishingly well acted film, so much so that it seems unfair to single out any of the performances. Mr. Lawrence's camera sense is as sure and unobtrusive as his feel for acting. The movie just seems to happen, to grow out of the ground like a... Full Review

|
by: Dana Stevens

Users Reviews See all

10.January.2011
|
by: Netflowers
Netflowers rated this movie10/10Must See

In this starkly realistic examination of love and infidelity among the thirty something crowd from down under we learn that you may desire to cheat on your spouse, but it's better if you don't. Leon Zat, a police detective played with an original and striking demeanor by Anthony LaPaglia, cheats on his wife and finds that his adultery compromises not only his marriage but his performance on the job. He becomes irritable and flies off the handle at things of little importance, and becomes consumed with guilt. He is not alone. The marriage of John Knox (Geoffrey Rush) and psychiatrist Valerie Somers (Barbara Hershey) is falling apart as Knox seeks something from the outside and Somers is torn apart with the suspicion that he is having a homosexual affair, perhaps with one of her clients. Meanwhile Jane O'May (Zat's adulteress played by Rachael Blake) finds that she needs a man, or maybe two, other than her estranged husband. Even Sonja Zat (Kerry Armstrong) feels the pressure and yearns to feel attractive, perhaps with younger men. More than halfway through we have an apparent murder and an investigation during the course of which some of the adulteries come to light and cause the participants to examine themselves and their lives closely. The ending comes upon us, as it sometimes should, unexpectedly, but then resonates so that we can see and feel the resolution. Not everything is tied up all neat and clean. Again we are left in some cases to use our own imagination. This is one of the best films I have seen in quite a long time, I enjoyed it very much, If you like Australian movies as I do, give LANTANA a chance, I think you might enjoy it. 5 STARS, In my humble opinion.

10.January.2011
|
by: Netflowers

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a great Robert Altman wannabe

Lantana has the same structure as Robert Altman's movies. Maybe with fewer characters, but still it feels like one of his. The mix of characters embroiled in a mystery is excellently done. The complicated characters and the mysterious plot are... Read and rate it

11.August.2008
|
by: seinfeld
seinfeld rated this movie7/10Good

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