Triangle
Melissa George in so-so horror Triangle
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By Matthew Champion. |  |
Tuesday, 13, Oct 2009 04:57
Directed by Christopher Smith, out October 16th, starring Melissa George, Michael Dorman, Rachael Carpani, Henry Nixon, Emma Lung and Liam Hemsworth, running time 98 mins.
In a nutshell...
Initially intriguing, eventually annoying.
What's it all about?
Troubled single parent Jess (Melissa George) is invited by Greg (Michael Dorman) to a daytrip on his yacht with a group of his friends. When the yacht is destroyed by a freak storm the group is forced to seek refuge on a passing liner. The horror begins as the group is hunted by a lone masked killer aboard the seemingly abandoned ship and Jess is forced to take action and confront some personal demons as she works to uncover the vessel's dark secrets and put an end to the killing.
Who's in it?
The cast is a showcase of little known up-an-coming Australian actors. Melissa George started her career at the age of 17 as the crush of many Australian teenage boys by playing the role of Angel Brooks in Home and Away and since has had a steady career in Australian and American television and supporting roles in such films as The Amityville Horror, Sugar and Spice, Dark City and David Lynch's Mulholland Drive. She has recently starred alongside Josh Harnett and Danny Huston in 30 Days of Night.
Michael Dorman gained a degree of popularity in Australia for his performance as the role of Christian in television drama series The Secret Life of Us, for which he was nominated for the Most Popular New Talent award at the Logie Awards (Australia's most prominent television awards.) He had a supporting role as Ethan Hawke's brother in Daybreakers and a starring role in Suburban Mayhem.'
Likelihood of a trip to the Oscars
This is not a film that is destined to be lauded by the more prominent critics in the business. Nor is it particularly likely to be a cult favourite. This is the kind of film that is worth seeing once, mulling over for an evening, then promptly forgetting about. It has neither the quality of a critical hit or the charm of a cult favourite, for reasons that I will explain further down.
So is it any good?
Triangle is a film that enforces the idea that the journey is more important than the destination. Those in the audience hoping for some kind of closure or resolution will be sorely disappointed. Unfortunately, this will make up majority of viewers as the film's twists and turns are sure to invoke a desire to see the winding plot untangle itself into a satisfying conclusion.
The film skilfully takes the idea of déjà vu to the nth degree, helped in no small amount by Melissa George's solid performance as the unstable and complicated Jess. The problem is that by the time Jess has learned the secret of the terrible events, she seems determined to fall into the same traps she has been witness to all throughout the story. It is very hard to explain these annoyances without spoiling the convoluted but initially intriguing plot, but expect to be bored and frustrated as the cyclic events of the film cease to surprise long before the credits roll.
The production values are solid despite some less-than-convincing CGI storm effects and seagulls. The superb set design of the ship steals the show here. The claustrophobic corridors and deco-style ballroom and theatre, at no point make the audience feel as if they are watching a false set. You can almost feel the seasickness turning in your belly.
The most perplexing aspect of Triangle is that the cast and crew is full of exciting up-and-coming Australian talent and the film is very obviously filmed in Australia, so why is it set in America? One scene even shows an American college style marching band practicing in a park, brandishing the stars and stripes, as if to remind the audience that they are watching a story that takes place in America and not Australia. Setting the film in Australia would have had no impact on the plot and would have allowed the actors to speak in their natural accents, rather than false, generic American ones.
Perhaps this is a personal gripe as I myself am an Australian with some limited experience in the film industry, but I am sure that audience members with any knowledge or experience of the land down under will feel alienated.
Annoyances aside, Triangle is a solid effort from a writer/director of promising skill and imagination. It won't be a lasting hit, but the twists and frights are enough to pass 98 minutes of a stormy night in.
6.5/10
Jim Dixon