Review of Top End Wedding

This movie put a smile on my face. The characters are just the greatest bunch of lovable people (and a dog) brought together in a movie. The story, despite some familiar scenarios, was fresh and interesting. Some beautiful cinematography of the Katherine gorge and Tiwi Islands and elsewhere up north added some more interest to the movie and should have people adding the north to their "bucket lists". Some truly funny scenes. I thought Kerry Fox was particularly funny in her role as Miranda Tapsell's lawyer boss, she seemed to be having the time of her life playing the part. It could have been pure caricature, but she gave it some depth. The camera just loves Miranda Tapsell and Ursula Yovich, who plays her mum, and the actors who played the bridesmaids were similarly gorgeous. Huw Higginson was good as the dad, and he managed to nail an aussie accent, which not many pull off. The movie reminded me of that REM/B52s song "shiny happy people". Yes, there is some pathos, but overall it was just shiny happy people in a beautiful shiny happy landscape (yes, I know you can get eaten by crocs and die of heatstroke, but in the movie it was all just gorgeous) and I came out of the film having a bit of the shiny happy rubbed off onto me. I agree with the other reviewer about the soundtrack. I also liked it a lot.