Restraint (2008)

This movie is more of an engaging character-study than anything else. Put 3 complex characters in a room & anchor them down with invisible rocks. A seemingly timid agorophobe, a seductive partner-in-crime trying to escape her stripper-life & a wild trigger-happy maniac with nothing to lose. Plot-wise it's a one-pager, that seems to be spending too much time in raising questions that will never be answered. Hell, infact the plot was there in the poster tagline: Seclusion, Seduction, Survival.

But as the story unfolds, its left to the audience to match whom with what tag. Did Ron paint himself into a corner with his crimes, is Andy trying to be his seductive best with his uber lifestyle, is Dale reinventing herself at each oppurtunity to ride out the storm. It's all about who's stories to believe. Whether to believe Ron's car-crash story to give credit to his never-understood-by-the-world attitude. whether to believe Andy's secrets or are they mere distractions to buy his life back. whether to empathize with Dale's choices as they always seem to be the-lesser-of-the-two-evils.

The internal struggle was never put into words. This leaves a lot of work for the audience. & There were several points which seemed to have dropped-off the script at the editing table. The bank-vault manager's memory, the cop's persistence, the antique-shop-owner's curiosity.

The actors did their parts wonderfully; I think the casting was appropriate. & I'm glad there wasn't any physical torture involved.

Favourite scenes include: The exhibitionistic stripper routine; Andy's sly 'keys-are-in-my-pocket' trick; the sexual provocation between Ron & Andy; the dancing scene after the celebration; The parrot-shooting; Andy restraining Dale's choice to become his fiance.

Alternate Ending: Showing Dale as a prisoner in Andy's mansion as he's dances merrily downstairs; goose-bumps. So in the end, you realises that the 3 tags apply to all 3 characters. It leaves the audience to interpret the title 'Restraint'. And I too would have left the heavy-lifting to be done by the imaginitive folk. Except I would have buried off the bodies to tie up any loose-ends.

First Viewed: Alone at Harborne in Parramatta.

Rating-3