Last Cab to Darwin is for Michael Caton what About Schmidt was to Jack Nicholson: an on-the-road exhibition of age and weariness feeling, in part, a contemplation of the actor’s own grasp of mortality. Sims and Cribb (who co-adapted the screenplay) invest plenty of thought into the characters and extrapolate from them an at times touching degree of heart and humour – particularly in the touch-and-go relationship between Rex and Polly. Some key turning points are handled with plausibility stretching contrivances: the random discovery of a qualified nurse ready to quit her pub job on a whim to care for a stranger on his death bed feels like a bit of a stretch, as does the entire town listening at just the right time to hear Rex say things over the radio he struggles to articulate face to face.Ĭinematographer Steve Arnold captures a warm and crispy glow, as if instructed to create a look reflecting early morning sunshine.
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This is most apparent in the characterisation of Dr Farmer, who Sims is reluctant to present as gung ho leader of a cause – lest she appear a scalp-hungry death merchant – but he also needs to give her a serious ideological position, which doesn’t quite come across. Dying of cancer, taxi driver Rex discovers surprise reserves of vitality as he road-trips through the Outback on his way to his assisted. When the film’s dry-humoured script (adapted from Reg Cribb’s play, which premiered in 2003 and was inspired by a true story) takes on the euthanasia debate it begins to feel a little muddled. A happy scene with smiles and laughs, for example, usually leads to a sad one reminding us of the protagonist’s fading health. When the characters are fleshed out, it begins to feel much more than that, though Sims falls into a predictable habit of offsetting dark moments with light ones (and vice versa) to the point at which tonal shifts can be second guessed. Photograph: Wendy McDougallįor a while the film feels like a tourist catalogue of outback pubs and an ode to the fair dinkum Aussie tradition of drinking beer no matter how many body functions conk out. Julie (Emma Hamilton) and Tilly (Mark Coles Smith) join Rex on his road trip.
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