A tale of lust among the dust
DREAMLAND
Margot Robbie impresses again with a charismatic turn in a 1930s-set crime drama. There can no longer be any doubt that the actress, twice nominated for an Oscar, is a genuine movie star. But I suspect the jury may still be out on her skills as a producer.
As was the case with the dire Terminal and the disappointing Birds Of Prey, Robbie has two credits here. And once again, it’s only her performance that makes the film worth watching. The setting is a farm in rural Texas which is being buffeted by dramatic dust storms, drought and the Great Depression. Unemployed Eugene (Finn Cole) lives here with his mother (Kerry Condon), his strict police deputy stepfather George (Travis
Fimmel) and his younger half-sister Phoebe (Darby Camp) who narrates the film as an old lady.
But he spends most of his time in a disused barn reading pulp detective magazines, the only excitement available in his impoverished town.
The dull lad’s dull life livens up when injured fugitive bank robber Allison Wells (Robbie) limps into his barn. The “wanted” posters say she botched a heist that led to the deaths of five people, including a young child. To Eugene, it’s like she’s just limped out of one of his beloved magazines.
Claiming the cops killed the kid, Allison begins to toy with the besotted teenager, manipulating him by playing up to his ideas of the romantic outlaw and damsel in distress.
Robbie keeps us guessing about Allison’s motivations but the script doesn’t give her nearly enough to work with. It feels like director Miles Joris-Peyrafitte is more interested in his dusty cinematography than in crafting compelling drama.
A genuine movie star but the jury is still out on Robbie’s skills as a producer