:
Heath Ledger,
Heath Ledger,
Orlando Bloom,
more...
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Gregor Jordan,
Gregor Jordan
see all cast/crew...
: 
: Universal Studios
: Foreign, Costume Drama/Period Piece, Biopics, Manhunt, Quest, Manhunt, Manhunt, Australia & New Zealand
: 110 min.
: English, Spanish
: Spanish, French
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Gregor Jordan's version of the Australian legend Ned Kelly stars Heath Ledger as the title outlaw. Sixteen-year-old Irish immigrant Ned is sentenced to three years in prison for stealing a horse. After his release he finds work tending to horses owned by Richard Cook (Nicholas Bell), whose wife (Naomi Watts) grows interested in Ned. Fitzpatrick (Kiri Paramore) is a police officer with a yen for Ned's sister Kate (Kerry Condon). When she rejects him, Fitzpatrick steals the family's animals. The brothers are falsely accused of a crime and go into hiding, leading to the assault and arrest of their beloved mother. Francis Hare (Geoffrey Rush) is eventually brought on to stop the gang that becomes famous after a string of bank robberies. The film also features Orlando Bloom (of Lord of the Rings fame) and Rachel Griffiths (Six Feet Under). The most recent version of this oft-filmed tale featured Mick Jagger as the infamous Kelly in 1970. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
Special Features:
- Ned Kelly in Popular Culture
- The Real Kelly Gang
- Artist to Feature Comparison
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| An Aussie legend makes a great populist hero
by talltale
August 1, 2004 - 8:03 AM PDT
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1 out of 1 members found this review helpful
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| A wonderful "populist" western (you might almost call it "progressive"), NED KELLY is a treasure of a movie. Profiling romantically and heroically the Australian outlaw of the title, the film is cast with Australian stars and directed by Aussie Gregor Jordan (the fascinating "Two Hands" and unfairly maligned "Buffalo Soldiers"). Jordan's new movie is full of the beauty of the flora and fauna of Down Under and, more important, is filled with non-stop moments of surprising richness and emotion. Even its cliches (this IS the biopic of a "legend," after all) are underpinned with enormous depth of feeling. Heath Ledger (so good in "Two Hands" and under- or mis-used in almost everything he's done in America) really comes into his own here, and he is well-supported by Orlando Bloom, Naomi Watts, Geoffrey Rush and the rest of this fine cast. This is a movie to make you angry as you watch injustice pile upon injustice; by its end you'll be moved and saddened but not depressed (it's too good a film for that). A hit in Australia where Kelly is a national "hero" of sorts, the movie flopped stateside where we don't really have anybody similar to honor (sorry, but Jesse James, Billy the Kid and Bonnie & Clyde don't make the grade as heroes). But Americans could learn a thing or two from the life pictured here--and have a fine time doing it. |
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 5.70)
20 Votes
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