Rex (Michael Caton) is cab driver in Broken Hill, New South Wales, a local town where he's good friends with everybody. When he's not having a beer with his mates, he's at home with his dog - affectionately named Dog - or snuggling up on the porch with his neighbor and mistress, Polly (Ningali Lawford), although he's not very open about the fact that he's secretly dating an Aborigine. Despite all the people who know and love him, Rex feels alone, and to make matters worse his cancer has progressed to the stage that he only has approximately three months left to live. After hearing Dr. Nicole Farmer (Jacki Weaver) discussing the recently passed euthanasia laws in the Northern Territory, Rex decides that he'll do what he does best and drive all the way to Darwin, in the hope that he'll get a chance to die with dignity.
About 12 years after he was telling lawyers to "go and get stuffed" and arguing over the price of jousting sticks, Michael Caton signed on to the lead role in Last Cab to Darwin, and after years of script re-writes and funding debacles, the film is getting an unusually widespread release around Australia. An international theatrical run is unlikely at this stage but I certainly hope something will come of it, because as we burgeon on potentially our best year in two decades as an industry, this film certainly sets the bar high for local productions. It's also sure to be a high-point in Michael Caton's career, because as much as I love Darryl Kerrigan, there's no doubt that this is Caton's best performance to date. The dry wit and down-to-earth attitude of a lonely, dying taxi driver is perfectly encapsulated in his portrayal, to the point that it's almost impossible not to love and sympathize with Rex.
Jacki Weaver is good as the soft-spoken, yet determined Dr. Nicole Farmer - although her role could have been more fleshed out - and Mark Coles Smith exudes charisma as the somewhat confused, but always entertaining Tilly. Some elements of the plot feel slightly too contrived, particularly when Rex and Tilly just happen to connect with a backpacker who's also a well-trained nurse, but overall this is a well-written, character driven film.
Jacki Weaver is good as the soft-spoken, yet determined Dr. Nicole Farmer - although her role could have been more fleshed out - and Mark Coles Smith exudes charisma as the somewhat confused, but always entertaining Tilly. Some elements of the plot feel slightly too contrived, particularly when Rex and Tilly just happen to connect with a backpacker who's also a well-trained nurse, but overall this is a well-written, character driven film.
With a story that could have so easily rolled into road-trip cliche hell, Sims adroitly swerves around the obvious to tell a provocative story about Rex, and surprisingly does justice to almost all the supporting characters. There's an eloquence to the ease with which Last Cab to Darwin approaches a range of different issues - both personal and social - without blatantly commenting on the fragility of the human condition. There's a definite mateship between Rex and his friends, even when they selfishly avoid his personal issues and choose to just natter over a beer, and on some level the film recognises the apartheid nature of the outback which we don't necessarily hear about in the coastal regions of Australia.
In a Q&A after the screening, Sims described Rex as Darryl Kerrigan's alter ego, an introvert that firmly believes that nobody would miss him if he were to be euthenised, allowing him to initially undertake the journey without too much personal struggle. "I'm a Cab driver Doc. So I'm gonna drive my cab until I can't drive it any more". In this respect, it's as much a film about learning to better understand just what we all mean to each other, as it is a spark toward the almost-dormant euthanasia debate.
In a Q&A after the screening, Sims described Rex as Darryl Kerrigan's alter ego, an introvert that firmly believes that nobody would miss him if he were to be euthenised, allowing him to initially undertake the journey without too much personal struggle. "I'm a Cab driver Doc. So I'm gonna drive my cab until I can't drive it any more". In this respect, it's as much a film about learning to better understand just what we all mean to each other, as it is a spark toward the almost-dormant euthanasia debate.
Whilst central to the story, euthanasia and all the opinions around it are handled with a suitably light touch. The film convinces its audience that its a worthwhile debate but also manages to represent all the perspectives. We understand the position of Dr. Farmer, who comes off as slightly selfish in her push to support euthanasia. We see the effects of Rex's decision on those that love him, and most importantly, we're entirely sympathetic to Rex himself, no matter what decision he finally decides to make.
Last Cab to Darwin is a fantastic road film, taking a sensitive issue that will relate to a global audience and treating it with all the respect it deserves, perfectly situated in a unique setting with a character that will no doubt go down as a memorable element of Australian cinema. The message of the film isn't necessarily that everybody should have the right to die with dignity when they choose, but rather that everybody should have the right to live a gratifying life.
I watched this movie last night and I thought it was a great Australian movie. I was enthralled with it from start to finish. I do however have a comment on the time line of this movie and the place is which it was set. First Broken Hill is in NSW but yet as we see from the movie Rex (the cab driver) had never left Broken Hill but yet was driving a cab registered in South Australia which could not have happened. Second that the with Euthanasia only legal in the Northern Territory for such a short time in 1995 this would have set the time when Telsrta had not yet been formed and it was still Australia Telecommunications so therefore the phone boxes could not have been Telstra and especially not in the middle of Australia as it took years to transform the phone boxes and this did not happen over night. Other than these two annoying flaws I found the movie five star and recommend this as a must see.
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