Lantana (2001)

90% of critics liked it
(103 reviews)
79% of users liked it
(7,013 ratings)

The intertwined lives of four couples living in and around Sydney, Australia, form the structure for this drama masquerading as a whodunit. Andrew Bovell freely adapted his play, Speaking in Tongues, opening up the action, as the geography and topography of Sydney and its suburbs become major… More The intertwined lives of four couples living in and around Sydney, Australia, form the structure for this drama masquerading as a whodunit. Andrew Bovell freely adapted his play, Speaking in Tongues, opening up the action, as the geography and topography of Sydney and its suburbs become major characters as well. The film opens with a shot of what looks like a corpse entangled in a thick stand of branches -- the title plant, which grows in profusion in Australia. Bovell and director Ray Lawrence take their time in explaining whose body that is and then slowly reveal, with no help from a number of red herrings, how it happened to be there. The principal players are Valerie Somers (Barbara Hershey), a psychiatrist with issues over her child, a murder victim; her husband, John Knox (Geoffrey Rush), an aloof professor whom she suspects of infidelity; Leon Zat (Anthony LaPaglia), a police detective cheating on his wife, Sonja (Kerry Armstrong), who is a patient of Valerie's. Zat's mistress, Jane O'May (Rachael Blake), is someone he met at a dancing class his wife dragged him to; she is estranged from her husband, Pete (Glenn L. Robbins). Their neighbors, Paula (Daniela Farinacci) and Nik D'Amato (Vince Colosimo), try to stay neutral in the O'Mays' split; she works days as a nurse and he's unemployed and minds their children. Suspicion around the disappearance of one character manages to enmesh all of the others. Bovell's stories are about secrets, real and imagined, and how they can poison relationships. The film virtually swept all the major awards at the Australian Film Institute's annual ceremony, though its reception in the States was mildly respectful. ~ Tom Wiener, Rovi

Play Trailer

Rating, Runtime: R, 2 hr. 1 min.
Directed By: Ray Lawrence
Written By: Andrew Bovell
Genres: Mystery & Suspense, Drama

In Theaters: Jan 25, 2002 Limited
On DVD: May 21, 2002
Studio: Lions Gate Releasing

Critic Reviews

Mark Caro, Chicago Tribune
A meditation on fidelity in marriage where the suspense and surprises stem from who has -- or hasn't -- been betraying each other and how.
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel
Lawrence cast well and gets terrific performances all the way up and down the line.
Rita Kempley, Washington Post
A perceptive, powerfully acted psychodrama.
Joe Baltake, Sacramento Bee
One of the best.
Eric Harrison, Houston Chronicle
Solving the mystery of the dead body would be enough for most Hollywood movies. In Lantana, it's merely a device to launch us into more rewarding explorations.
Steven Rosen, Denver Post
Lantana is so rich in secondary characters and performances it's hard to mention them all. But you will certainly appreciate them.
Christopher Smith, Bangor Daily News (Maine)
As a mystery, "Lantana" is memorable. But as a study in human relationships and the human condition, it's unforgettable.
Jeffrey Overstreet, Looking Closer
... boldly, thoroughly, and honestly explores the difficulties of unconditional love in a society that teaches us that we should never deny our base appetites and impulses.
Thomas Delapa, Boulder Weekly
The sort of movie that highbrow critics love to overrate...It's Married With Children for serious-minded folks without a sense of humor.
Judith Egerton, Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY)
The movie doesn't have the appeal of a Hitchcock psychological murder mystery. It's more a well-acted study about the thorny landscape of relationships.
Harry Guerin, RTE Interactive (Dublin, Ireland)
It has a sensuality years away from the young faces and trainer-toned bodies we've come to expect.
Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine
A flawed but intimate DVD presentation for Australia's critically acclaimed Lantana.
Urban Cinefile Critics, Urban Cinefile
Now if you also like the film as much as I do, you've got a treat in store on the DVD. Produced by Australia's Oasis DVD production house, the package comes together well both in technical terms - which matters with a film as nuanced as this - and in crea

Read all 13 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Lady D

This Australian gem is an impressive watch with a faultless cast who were all such natural Actors and gave the film a truly realistic feel. The merging of characters and circumstances were quite seeemlessly delivered to the audience, leaving the film to be unpredictable. For… More
This Australian gem is an impressive watch with a faultless cast who were all such natural Actors and gave the film a truly realistic feel. The merging of characters and circumstances were quite seeemlessly delivered to the audience, leaving the film to be unpredictable. For those who appreciate Actor driven films, this I'm sure, you will enjoy.
Film C

not to sure i fully understood this but i dunno ill probably have to watch it again then give review
Leigh R

Eh!
Drew S

The obvious inspiration for sister film Jindabyne, Lantana is stronger simply by account of a more focused plot and a larger, yet still interesting cast of characters. The big theme here is infidelity of many kinds - betrayal of trust in general - and the murder here is a perfect… More
The obvious inspiration for sister film Jindabyne, Lantana is stronger simply by account of a more focused plot and a larger, yet still interesting cast of characters. The big theme here is infidelity of many kinds - betrayal of trust in general - and the murder here is a perfect conduit for revealing these things. Anthony LaPaglia has always been kind of a one trick pony, but his trick happens to suit him very well here. He's a prick, but not a totally unapproachable one; the issues that he certainly has seem like ones that could be ironed out with the right kind of attention. You want the character's circumstances to improve, so he can improve himself. Geoffrey Rush is fantastic, handling a crucial character twist so flawlessly that it breaks your heart. Barbara Hershey and Kerry Armstrong are also interesting as the women involved in these affairs, Rachael Blake makes a solid studious neighbor, and the young couple are suitably optimistic and likable. The performances are all even and intelligent, suiting the ensemble cast perfectly - it is exactly what the movie needs to flourish. Because so little ultimately happens in Lantana, the characters are what the movie needs to shine, and shine they do. I guess I could elucidate that obvious titular metaphor for you, but the movie does it pretty blatantly. The kind of explosive blooming of many different people...
Lanning :

Total manipulation of the audience. Nice ensemble cast. If not for the weak ending unraveling a bit too expectedly, a great movie.
Jared H

Great characters, relationships between the characters, and great performances illuminate this film to another level. One you learn to accept all the coincidences going on, you'll find yourself enthralled by this web that writer Andrew Bovell has spun.
Daisy M

Lantana turned out to be a pleasant surprise. I knew little about it before watching it and, from the initial scene, I thought it was going to be a murder mystery, but it turned out to be an excellent psychological drama that involved the interactions of the lives of these… More
Lantana turned out to be a pleasant surprise. I knew little about it before watching it and, from the initial scene, I thought it was going to be a murder mystery, but it turned out to be an excellent psychological drama that involved the interactions of the lives of these characters.Geoffrey Rush had the perfect face to realize his character's disconnections. Barbara Hershey perfectly played a psychiatrist with her own problems.Kerry Armstrong's portrayal of a woman struggling with her marriage.Then Anthony La Plagia played Leon Zat, who due to his investigations got involved with all of the other characters. The acting was superb. The endings, for each of the main characters, was very clear.