Letzter Stop Nashville

Richard Roxburgh has barely played a false note through his acting career and it's not for his efforts that Doing Time for Patsy Cline falls a tad flat.

Had the movie spent more time on the road rather than been bogged down so much by the doing time aspect, and forgone the somewhat tedious ruminations of wannabe country singing star played by Matt Day and what coulda, shoulda been, the film may have opened up more interesting plot possibilities aka David Lynch's Wild at Heart.

All in all it's a watchable exercise with endearing moments and characters. With a little more attention paid to the storyline, Doing Time for Patsy Cline may have reached a few more high notes.

I thought of Dickens and 'it's a far, far better thing...'. Yes, of course it comes across a tad corny but that's to set you up for the end. This is the film that got a country music hating pedophile into Patsy Cline and that can't be a bad thing. As for the comment about Mum and Dad being from either a beer commercial or the fifties, I can assure you I went on country holidays at grandma's sisters and second cousins' houses that could have been acting coaches for those two. It's also a film that gives you a real belly laugh about five times through it. Not many films that aren't marketed as full-on comedies give you that.

This movie is worth seeing for the music alone (if you like Country).

The plot is predictable, the mix between reality and fantasy gets very annoying after a while. In spite of this, it is an enjoyable movie on the whole, due mainly to the charm of the main characters.

The stereotypical "Mum and Dad" are right out of a beer commercial (or a 1950s Australian film). In fact the whole movie seems to be more like something made in 1955 than 1997. With most movies made these days with the international market in mind, it is surprising that someone made one that would be totally confusing to anyone other than an Australian.

A meandering tale of a young Australian would-be country singer (Matt Day) on his way to Nashville to claim his fortune. In a little too unbelievable turn of events, he hitches a ride with a couple of con artists on the lam. He falls for the girl (Otto) and goes to prison with the guy, to cover for her.

Day's subdued obsessions is the charm of the film. His knack for country is not. Told in a needless twisted series of flashbacks and flashforwards, the story is not so much confusing as it is boring since we are revealed the inevitable climax early on.

A large part of the film spent with Day and the con man in a small outback jail, hence the name "doing time." The stereotypical characters in jail with them, Day and the con man's banal insights, and the unbelievably mixed attitude of the cops make this chunk of the film difficult to sit through. Indeed the audience is forced to do time.

Bush boy Ralph plans to travel to the big smoky city, catch a flight to Nashville and bingo! A new country singer star is born. But, unfortunately for him, he meets up with fast talking Boyd and sweet Patsy. The law gets a whiff of them and the boys end up in a country jail, hence the title. For young Ralph this becomes an experience that will improve his country music lyrics about standard issues of prison, women and the hard life. A pleasant comedy that wobbles on its legs towards the end. Roxburgh excels as Boyd, helped with a fine script by Kennedy. The catchy song is a bonus.