Director: Mike Wallis
Cast: Cohen Holloway, Inge Rademeyer, Jon Pheloung, Richard Thompson, Charles Lum, Mark Norrie
Rating (R13)
3 stars (out of 5)
While Geoff Murphy used the narrative of the Hollywood Western to frame his tale of indigenous resistance to colonisation (Utu), director Mike Wallis uses the distinctive landscapes of Central Otago and the Mackenzie Country to frame his quirky homage to the genre.
Cast as the archetypal cowboy anti-hero, Cohen Holloway plays an ambiguous high plains drifter of few words. Known only as "The Man", he nonchalantly guns down a posse of men transporting Isabella Montgomery (Inge Rademeyer) to her new home. Perhaps Wallis doesn't trust himself or his audience with the subtleties of the genre, so he throws in a twist. The Man has erectile dysfunction, something he discovers while trying to rape Montgomery.
Frustrated, The Man heads off in search of a cure, and with Montgomery implicated as an accomplice in his outlaw activities, the couple form an unlikely pairing.
So convincing are the "Bannockburn badlands", the scenery nearly usurps the acting. Fortunately, Cohen and Rademeyer are equal to the task. Their natural on-screen chemistry rescues the wafer-thin plot.
With some superb camera framing and an impressive film score, Good for Nothing disguises its shortcomings with attention to Western detail and moments of deadpan humour.
Best thing: John Psathas' wonderful score performed by the NZSO.
Worst thing: A lack of script or plot developments worthy of a 92-minute film.
See it with: Anyone who has ever thought that New Zealand is a natural fit for the Western.
- By Mark Orton
