Goldstone (2016)

"The director recaptures his fluid handling of dusty tough-guy dynamics while succinctly revisiting weighty thematic strands..."

Read the full review here: http://screen-space.squarespace.com/reviews/2016/6/8/goldstone.html

Jun 8, 2016

**Two cops with the same motive, dealing it differently.**

When I saw the first film a couple of years ago, I did not think they would make a sequel. It looked kind of a one-off film, but I'm very happy for this and I'm sure there will be another one. There's no mention of 'part 2' in the title, so people might end up watching this without knowing there's one before this. But it's good to name a film according to the plot/story. Those who saw the original will be familiar with the characters and the story narration, so they will know what to and how much to expect.

This is my first film of the 2017. I don't believe in such sentiments, but I think its a great start and hoping to watch many more good ones. Now coming to the film plot, it continued from the previous. After the successful first assignment as a detective, Jay Swan is sent to another small mining town to deal with a missing person case. Seems no ones are happy on his arrival, including the local cop. But his doubts about how the powerful people misusing their power makes a cop named Josh to act instantly.

Almost 2 hour long film, narrated with a slow pace. Thus far of the tale are developed steadily. Since the Josh gets into investigating, the people with illegal business starts to feel the heat. Meanwhile, Jay learns a few things about his people from an old local indigenous man. Josh and Jay, they both make a progress, which leads to a step away to solve the multiple cases. The final quarter turns into an action film and leaves a big open to the story to continue.

> "And they follow the same god. Money god."

That's what I disliked. Being a long film and not able to finish it off properly makes it fall behind quite a bit long distance from the original film. But I still enjoyed it. Those locations were well used to tell the story. In fact, it kind of reminded me another detective film 'Jesse Stone'. The opening scene from this as well, kind of similar, like being drunk while arriving in a new town. Unlike that film, this is not a television film and high quality film from all the aspect. It is also considered one of the best Aussie film of the year. So if you are a film fanatic, you should not miss it.

Directed by the same director and once again he managed the multiple tasks, like handling camera, editing, music and script. Predictable story, but it's not about the story, it's how the story was presented. The actors did help with that part to accomplish what the filmmaker wanted. Aaron Pederson was awesome, and now he's one of my favourites from down under. I hope like all the Aussie actors, he would also get a chance to work in Hollywood projects.

The case was not detailed for us. We learn Jay is working to find the missing girl, but no flashbacks or any other kind of revelations. At some point it gives out the result in a simple, but heart wrecking way. It's more a realistic in revelation going forward than giving hints for the viewers to make predictions. Like I said, it's not as good as the first film, that's only because of the ending. I'm also not sure the same story would continue in the next part.

The way it concluded might not be complete, but it is something different than the usual solution in a cop film. So you have to accept the fact than complaining it. Other than that, I'm sure it is one of the best detective films. The films, both the installments were not internationally recognised so well, but it definitely deserves that honour. It might take years people come to know, though I hope you would check it out after reading this review, only if you haven't seen it yet. Recommended!

_7/10_

Jan 14, 2017