In the 1980s the author of this review used to be in love with the booming and blooming Australian film industry. The video stores were full of tapes with the latest Australian films, and the former Yugoslav television aired almost any miniseries that it could get - all of that usually superior to the similar Hollywood products. The first crush in that romance occurred a few years earlier, when former Yugoslav television had been introducing the new Australian cinema in a weekly series of television premieres. My taste at the time was too unrefined to appreciate their quality, so they mostly slipped out of my memory. However, there was one notable exception - Money Movers, a 1978 crime thriller by Bruce Beresford, the most commercial and Hollywood-like of all those movies, but also superior to many similar films made on the other side of the Pacific.
The screenplay is based on the novel by Devon Minchin, yet the beginning credits tell that the plot was based on actual events. In any case, the authenticity of the movie is quite a moot point, because writer and director Bruce Beresford throws nitty-gritty realism in our faces. A security firm specialised in the transport of money and other valuables becomes the target of repeated hits by armed robbers. Its owner, Lionel Darcy (played by Frank Wilson) is worried because the failure to secure the transports could mean the end of his business. His worries multiply when he gets an anonymous tip that the firm is going to get hit from the inside. That also worries Eric Jackson (played by Terence Donovan), one of Darcy's trusted employees who has been planning exactly the same thing for the last five years. Those events coincide with the appearance of a new, young and seemingly inexperienced employee, Leo Bassett (played by Tony Bonner). Darcy's suspicions and some other strange events also attract the attention of a local crime boss, Jack Henderson (played by Charles 'Bud' Tingwell), who would also like a piece of the action.
A good thing about cinema industries that have a relatively small pool of actors is the fact that some really talented artists don't hesitate to play small roles. Here, in Money Movers, those small roles are illuminated by a great bunch of more than capable actors like Ed Deveraux, Terence Donovan or Bryan Brown. The script and good direction of Bruce Beresford allow them all to shine in an hour and a half of non-stop action and intrigue. The plot is really intriguing, allowing some interesting twists and surprises, although Beresford does reveal most of his cards in the beginning. Also, despite the huge amounts of pulp material - sex, violence, bad language, police corruption (in more ways than one) - its use does not seem gratuitous. By providing such naturalistic elements, Beresford draws us into the picture and allows us to forget any possible flaws of characterisation. Everything culminates in an extremely violent and cathartic finale, although the direction of the action scenes would be better in the hands of someone like Walter Hill or George Miller. But despite all these shortcomings, Money Movers should be watched as a refreshingly entertaining piece of underrated cinema.
RATING: 8/10 (+++)
(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.movies.reviews on November 27h 1998)
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