LAST RIDE

BY CHRISTOPHER HASKELL
AUGUST 8, 2013

Visually striking and emotionally in tune, “Last Ride” takes a father and son road trip and puts it on the backdrop of the Australian outback. Not quite the average road trip adventure, Kev (Hugo Weaving) is on the run from the law for reasons we’re not privy to immediately while his son Chook (Tom Russell) is along for the ride, with nowhere else to go. Hugo Weaving dominates this performance, bringing to life this tortured ex-convict, who may be rough with his son, but deep down shows true affections. Tom Russell, a relative newcomer to film, captures the innocence and naivete of this role and grabs hold of the more robust scenes and doesn’t let go.

There’s a subtle nature to Glendyn Ivin’s first feature-length film, with a thin line between what could happen and what does happen as we travel across back roads with these characters. With one of the gorgeous visual experiences laid out in the form of the vast flat salt lake, Lake Gairdner, “Last Ride,” stays with you well after the credits roll thanks to cinematography from Grieg Fraser. Fraser captures one of the most brilliant and devastating endings to a film in recent memory. There’s a poetic vibe that resonates from “Last Ride” and sets the bar indefinitely higher for future dramatic films.