Smash Palace

I saw this movie while on vacation in New Zealand and loved it. Lawrence gives a terrific portrayal of a man whose life is thrown into chaos when his obsession with building a race car and paying more attention to his new car junkyard leads his wife to an affair with his best friend. He then kidnaps their daughter and heads for the woods. If you can find this movie anywhere, rent it. You won't regret it. I loved it. The final scene to this film is especially memorable. I will not reveal it-you will have to see it to find out. You will never forget it, that's for sure.

***1/2 out of ****

Bruno Lawrence owns and operates the titular auto wrecking yard, and races cars when he gets the chance. He took over the business when his father died, planning on selling it right away, but has grown to love it and won't sell. His wife hates it, and hates the fact that Lawrence spends all his time with his cars and his young daughter and none with her. Her displeasure drives her into the arms of Bruno's best friend, and when she leaves, taking his daughter with her, Bruno cracks and kidnaps her. Roger Donaldson's third feature is more of a character drama than his earlier films, though it has a somewhat action based climax. It's a generally intriguing film where nobody is completely right or wrong, and it goes in eccentric directions.

Roger Donaldson wrote, produced, and directed this combination of character study, melodrama, and thriller. Kiwi icon Bruno Lawrence stars as Al Shaw, a former pro racer who now operates a rural junkyard (the "Smash Palace" of the title). He spends so much time tinkering with vehicles that he has little time left for his wife Jacqui (Anna Maria Monticelli). Feeling unloved, she commences an affair with his best friend Ray (Keith Aberdein), a police officer, and takes their daughter Georgie (Greer Robson-Kirk) with her. He does not appreciate this turn of events, to put it mildly, setting in motion the ugliness that will soon follow.

Lawrence is brilliant in a largely unsympathetic role. Although the story eventually turns somewhat conventional as he takes it on the lam, he still provides enough "glue" to hold everything together. Monticelli is fine as the frustrated wife, and has plenty of her own effective moments. Young Robson-Kirk is adorable, and the film is at its best when focusing on the relationship between father and daughter. Aberdein, and Desmond Kelly as friend / employee Tiny, round out the superb main cast.

Although he doesn't invite a lot of sympathy (at least for the balance of the picture), Al is NOT one-dimensional: he genuinely loves his little girl, and it's understandable that he couldn't abide the thought of possibly not seeing her again. Then again, the three main adult characters are presented as real, flawed human beings who are not in the right all the time. The one character you really feel sorry for is the child, who you know is going to have some traumatic memories to last her a lifetime.

The film is deliberately paced for a while, eventually segueing into a more action-packed finale. (It does also have some well-executed racing sequences, as Al still participates in races whenever possible.)

Atmospheric, and grimly compelling, "Smash Palace" devastatingly illustrates what happens for children when their parents are irrational.

This third feature for Donaldson helped get him noticed by Hollywood, leading to his respectable American feature film career.

Eight out of 10.

(1982) Smash Palace DRAMA

Produced, co-written and directed by Roger Donaldson who makes the most of it's simplistic story line set up, that centers on Al played by Bruno Lawrence paying the price for neglecting his family, spending more time on his junkyard of cars!! Because of his lack of affection, Al's wife, Jacqui (Anna Jemison) then has extra marital affairs with fellow police officer, Ray (Keith Aberdein). There's nothing glamorous about it's locations, as it is as real as one can get.

Filmed in New Zealand with their natural English dialect spoken with a gripping ending that has to be seen to be believed.

Married couple in New Zealand with a young child separate, but he can't let go. Art-house stunner delivers some amazingly raw and complicated emotions in its early stages, but then gets confused and falls off. This isn't the fault of the actors however, particularly Bruno Lawrence in what should've been a star-making performance. Maybe it's the fact that his character is so morose and troubled (at one point, with the family piled in the car, he pauses on the railroad tracks) that Lawrence wasn't given much credit, and the film failed to find an audience here in the States. Some light relief from all the crazy behavior might've helped, yet the picture has a prickly, compelling edge, and that's surely something the audience can latch onto. Sadly, this melodramatic roller-coaster of emotions does peter out, though for the first hour it showcases a gripping study of human lives. **1/2 from ****