The Dry – The Movie Gourmet

Photo caption: Eric Bana in Robert Connolly;s film THE DRY, which played at SFFILM. Photo courtesy of SFFILM.

Beginning this week, I will no longer title this weekly post as “Movies to See Right Now (at home)“, because I believe that we can return to seeing movies safely in theaters in the Bay Area. I’ll continue to recommend plenty of movies to watch at home. But I, with my family and approaching 80% of my community fully vaccinated, have chosen to go back to the theaters.

The last movie that I saw in a theater was The Burnt Orange Heresy on March 5, 2020 in the California Theatre at the 2020 Cinequest. In the 14 1/2 months since the initial COVID Shelter in Place order, I have still managed to watch 307 movies and episodic series. The first movie that I had intended to see in a theater was The Dry, but I streamed it, so my next theater visit is TBD.

I published my list of Best Shakespeare Movies before my review of Hamlet/Horatio, which opens on June 1.

IN THEATERS

The Dry: Eric Bana soars in this atmospheric, slow-burn tale of murder and long-festering secrets from the Australian outback. Also streaming on AppleTV, YouTube and Google Play

ON VIDEO

Brewmance: This appealing documentary traces the evolution of the home brewing movement into the American craft beer explosion, along with two engaging underdog stories. AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play and coming to Amazon (included with Prime) on June 1.

Hamlet/Horatio: A fresh-eyed take on Hamlet that focuses more on the external tragedy than the internal angst. Streaming on June 1.

The most eclectic watch-at-home recommendations you’ll find ANYWHERE:

Louder Than Bombs: An intricately constructed family drama. Amazon (included with Prime), Vudu and YouTube.
That Guy Dick Miller: Putting the “character” in “character actor:” Amazon (included with Prime).
Sword of Trust: comedy and so, so much more. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
Run Lola Run: you’ll never see a more kinetic movie. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
The Times of Harvey Milk: my favorite political documentary. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play, HBO Max and Criterion Channel..
Tab Hunter Confidential: heartthrob in the closet. Amazon.
Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street: the origin story of an institution. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube, Google Play.
The Face of Love: Who is she really in love with? Amazon.
Augustine: obsession, passion and the birth of a science. Amazon (included with Prime), AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.
The Brainwashing of My Dad: some insight into our national madness. Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.

ON TV

As usual, Turner Classic Movies will be airing a ton of fine war movies over the Memorial Day weekend (including The Best Years of Our Lives, Merrill’s Marauders, Kelly’s Heroes, The Dirty Dozen, The Steel Helmet and Battleground). I am particularly recommending The Enemy Below (1957), a cleverly plotted and well-acted WW II submarine story, ably directed by Dick Powell. Robert Mitchum is the new captain of a sub-chaser, and Curd Jürgens commands a German sub. The Jürgens character has no sympathy for the Nazi regime, which makes him relatable for the audience; in real life, the Bavarian-born Jürgens was imprisoned by the Nazis for his political views and became an Austrian citizen after being liberated. The Enemy Below is a brilliant game of lethal cat-and-mouse between the two skippers.

The Germans are trapped by their mission, which requires them to keep on a certain bearing. The US commander recognizes this and is able to keep catching up to them on this route. Mitchum explains his tactics to his crew, gets the crews trust and helps us follow the chess game. As nerves crack on the sub below, Jürgens takes unusual tactics to maintain morale. Mutual respect is manifested at end, with stirring loyalty demonstrated by the men to their captains.

There’s a lot here that you don’t see in other submarine warfare movies, including a rare ramming collision and aerial views of the depth charge pattern. There’s also a great special effect shot showing sailors on the destroyer’s deck dropping their fishing line down to the U-boat resting on the sea bottom directly below. The author of the source novel was himself a veteran of anti-sub warfare. The Enemy Below airs on TCM on Monday night, May 21.

Photo caption: Eric Bana in Robert Connolly’s film THE DRY, which playes at SFFILM. Photo courtesy of SFFILM.

Eric Bana soars in The Dry, an atmospheric, slow-burn tale of murder and long-festering secrets from the Australian outback. The Dry is as psychological as it is procedural.

Bana plays Aaron, a renowned big city police officer who returns to his remote, tiny hometown, for the funeral of his childhood best friend. The friend, with his wife and young son, have been shotgunned to death, and all signs point to a murder-suicide. The friends’ parents implore Aaron to see if there is another explanation.

That task is complicated by the act that Aaron is not welcomed by many in his hometown. His teen heartthrob was mysteriously drowned, and Aaron was a prime suspect, causing him to flee the town. Twenty years later, all he knows is that he didn’t do it and that he lied about his alibi.

As indicated by the title, writer-director Robert Connolly sets The Dry in Australian outback in the Climate Change. The vast, tinder-dry landscapes underscores the literal and psychological isolation of the locals.

Aaron, racked with feelings about the twenty-year-old mystery death, starts investigating the current day murders. He joins up with the inexperienced local cop, and they poke around the rural community over several, searingly hot days. It takes a while to get there, but I thought the payoff justified the slow pace; The Wife didn’t. Both of us were surprised when the The Real Killer was revealed.

Eric Bana’s performance as Aaron is superb. The whole movie is about Aaron trying to keep his investigative focus while being buffeted by feelings about his childhood friends and his hometown and the trauma that caused him to move away from them.

Because of his good looks and his physicality, Bana appears in a lot of big movies that don’t test his emotional range (Hulk, Troy, Black Hawk Down). But Bana is always good and even better in movies like Munich and Hanna, where we get to glimpse his thinking and feeling. For a really good and overlooked Eric Bana movie, I recommend the 2012 thriller Deadfall, available to stream on Amazon, AppleTV, Vudu, YouTube and Google Play.

The Dry played at SFFILM in April, but I missed it there. The Dry is now in Bay Area theaters and streaming on AppleTV, YouTube and Google Play.