Everytime I think of Australia, I think of that episode of The Simpsons. However, the Aussies have more to offer the world than bootings, Crocodile Dundee, and Yahoo Serious. They’ve given us film noir down under-style with The Square. Directed by actor/stuntman Nash Edgerton, the screenplay was co-written by brother Joel and Matthew Dabner. The Edgerton’s work has already drawn comparisons to the Coen Brothers and their debut film, Blood Simple.
The Square follows the classic noir formula of films like The Postman Always Rings Twice and Double Indemnity. The formula centers on a man who thinks with his dick instead of his head, commiting an ever escalating series of crimes all for the love of a woman. In this case, The Square follows Raymond Yale (David Roberts), a construction foreman who is engaged in an affair with his neighbor, Carla Smith (Claire van der Boom), who is married to a low-rent, white trash crook named Smithy (Anthony Hayes). How white trash is he? He has a mullet.
Raymond takes kickbacks on the job in order to save enough money for the two to run away together. Carla grows impatient by the day. The answer to her prayers comes one fateful day when she spies Smithy stashing away a duffel bag full of cash. Carla convinces Raymond to steal the money. The originally reluctant Raymond hires an arsonist (Joel Edgerton) to burn the house down to cover up the theft. A serious of unfortunate events leads to the arsonist burning the house down with Smithy’s mother asleep inside. The web of deceit is pulled in tighter when Ray begins receiving blackmail letters. Suspicion grows on all sides building and building to a tragic conclusion.
The Edgertons offer nothing new to the genre. The characters are one-dimensional and unsympathetic and the story familiar. What the Edgertons have done well is create the mood. The dark happenings of the plot are set against the backdrop of a seemingly sleepy suburban neighborhood built along the banks of a river that’s possibly shark infested. The tension mounts with the passing of every scene keeping the characters and the audience on their toes.
Rating: ***
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