In the outback of Dubbo, a young man named Thomas (Michael Dorman), working for a truck depot, is trying to get his hours up so that he can acquire his own semi-trailer. Thomas grieves when his father is killed in a machinery accident and he is watched over by his boss Phil (William McInnes). Yet Thomas' heartache is put to rest when he meets Melissa (Emily Barclay) who is working at a gas station. They are almost immediately attracted to each other and start a relationship. Melissa's mother warns her about men and she soon finds herself pregnant with Thomas' child. Melissa and Thomas decide to get married and they live in a caravan together. In order to buy his own semi-trailer though, Thomas borrows money from the local crims, as opposed to the bank. To pay off the loan he is forced to work thoroughly day and night along tiring road trips, regularly leaving his pregnant wife behind.
Director David Caesar who previously made Dirty Deeds admits that he enjoys overlapping genres. Although it contains autobiographical elements from Caesar's own experiences as a young truckie, Prime Mover is essentially a genre film: a very uneven mix of young romance slight comedy and a crime story. The film has a striking resemblance to the Australian film Two Hands, which starred Heath Ledger as a young man who owed money to a gangster, while also balancing a romance with a young girl that he meets. It is because of the familiarity of this setup that Prime Mover just doesn't seem to have anything new to say. There are very few insights into the world of truckies that weren't already known.
The film's formulaic narrative also suffers because of the sketchy characters as well. It is difficult to find Thomas a likable hero given his ill-treatment of his young pregnant wife, constantly telling her that he has a new plan. The script makes him come off as a boob rather than someone who is tenacious and always refusing to give up. Due to his underwritten character Thomas is also far less interesting and we are never really immersed into his suffering as he digs himself deeper and deeper into debt. Barclay fairs slightly better with her character and there are some emotional moments particularly with the relationship to her baby. Oddly, there are times when the relationship between Thomas and Melissa feels strangely compressed. The very first time that Thomas takes the girl for a drive at night and returns her home, she states to her mother "you don't even know him." It is as though she is already defending him like she was in a serious relationship. There are some other talented actors who offer very slight performances too. In a small part, William McInnes is rather assertive as a father-like figure, but Ben Mendelsohn from Beautiful Kate is very forgettable and bland as the baddie and Gyton Grantley from Underbelly, complete with a handlebar moustache, is utterly wasted too.
Although Cesar claims that his use of animation and fantastical elements throughout the film is meant to provide insight into an inner life of the characters, one has to question whether he was watching the same film. The animation is so scarcely used throughout Prime Mover that it acts as more of a gimmick rather than anything truly thought provoking. In one moment as Thomas and Melissa are making out, the camera zooms deep into her chest to reveal her heart as a high powered engine. Or as Thomas slips into a pill popping insomnia he envisions Phil climbing onto the side of his truck like a gremlin. At other times he sees Saint Christopher – the patron saint of travellers - giving him advice. It would be a stretch to call it deeply insightful. An almost identical concept was used more effectively throughout Sarah Watt's film Look Both Ways, which also starred William McInnes. Brief moments of entire animation were used to visualise a woman's fear of death in everyday life and to reflect her anxiety. This film is just not as sophisticated as that.
Without interesting, sympathetic and fully developed characters it is extremely difficult to be moved or engaged by this sloppy mixture of crime and romance. Barclay is certainly an asset to the film though and if it had focused on her pain of being abandoned, rather than stooping into a tired formula, there might have been something emotionally driving and rewarding about the narrative. Prime Mover is certainly not the worst Australian film of the year but it is a highly forgettable one.
Director David Caesar who previously made Dirty Deeds admits that he enjoys overlapping genres. Although it contains autobiographical elements from Caesar's own experiences as a young truckie, Prime Mover is essentially a genre film: a very uneven mix of young romance slight comedy and a crime story. The film has a striking resemblance to the Australian film Two Hands, which starred Heath Ledger as a young man who owed money to a gangster, while also balancing a romance with a young girl that he meets. It is because of the familiarity of this setup that Prime Mover just doesn't seem to have anything new to say. There are very few insights into the world of truckies that weren't already known.
The film's formulaic narrative also suffers because of the sketchy characters as well. It is difficult to find Thomas a likable hero given his ill-treatment of his young pregnant wife, constantly telling her that he has a new plan. The script makes him come off as a boob rather than someone who is tenacious and always refusing to give up. Due to his underwritten character Thomas is also far less interesting and we are never really immersed into his suffering as he digs himself deeper and deeper into debt. Barclay fairs slightly better with her character and there are some emotional moments particularly with the relationship to her baby. Oddly, there are times when the relationship between Thomas and Melissa feels strangely compressed. The very first time that Thomas takes the girl for a drive at night and returns her home, she states to her mother "you don't even know him." It is as though she is already defending him like she was in a serious relationship. There are some other talented actors who offer very slight performances too. In a small part, William McInnes is rather assertive as a father-like figure, but Ben Mendelsohn from Beautiful Kate is very forgettable and bland as the baddie and Gyton Grantley from Underbelly, complete with a handlebar moustache, is utterly wasted too.
Although Cesar claims that his use of animation and fantastical elements throughout the film is meant to provide insight into an inner life of the characters, one has to question whether he was watching the same film. The animation is so scarcely used throughout Prime Mover that it acts as more of a gimmick rather than anything truly thought provoking. In one moment as Thomas and Melissa are making out, the camera zooms deep into her chest to reveal her heart as a high powered engine. Or as Thomas slips into a pill popping insomnia he envisions Phil climbing onto the side of his truck like a gremlin. At other times he sees Saint Christopher – the patron saint of travellers - giving him advice. It would be a stretch to call it deeply insightful. An almost identical concept was used more effectively throughout Sarah Watt's film Look Both Ways, which also starred William McInnes. Brief moments of entire animation were used to visualise a woman's fear of death in everyday life and to reflect her anxiety. This film is just not as sophisticated as that.
Without interesting, sympathetic and fully developed characters it is extremely difficult to be moved or engaged by this sloppy mixture of crime and romance. Barclay is certainly an asset to the film though and if it had focused on her pain of being abandoned, rather than stooping into a tired formula, there might have been something emotionally driving and rewarding about the narrative. Prime Mover is certainly not the worst Australian film of the year but it is a highly forgettable one.