Stars:
Diana Glenn,
David Field,
Jack Thompson,
Claudia Harrison,
Kerry Armstrong,
Alex O'Lachlan,
Alan Cinis,
Jim Norton
Director:
Anna Reeves
Summary: After his sister is injured in an accident, Jack Flange must leave Sydney for the small town of Brooklyn, New South Wales, to care for her. Though he finds work with Brownie, an oyster farmer with a failing marriage, Jack robs a fish market and--in a freak accident--the money falls into the river. Instead of thinking the money is simply lost, he theorises that it has gone to support the expensive shoe habit of sexy local cleaning woman, Pearl--but as he attempts to find out the truth, he begins to fall in love with her.
After his sister is injured in an accident, Jack Flange (Alex O'Lachlan) must leave Sydney for the small town of Brooklyn, New South Wales, to care for her. Here, on the winding Hawkesbury River, a population of fishermen and eccentrics live a simple life. Though he finds work with Brownie (David Field), an oyster farmer with a failing marriage, Jack robs a fish market and mails himself the money to help with his sister's medical expenses--but in a freak accident, the money falls into the river. Instead of thinking the money is simply lost, he theorises that it has gone to support the expensive shoe habit of sexy local cleaning woman, Pearl (Diana Glenn)--but as he attempts to find out the truth, he begins to fall in love with her. With OYSTER FARMER, first-time writer/director Anna Reeves has crafted a story that may be safely placed in the fish-out-of-water genre, but wisely sidesteps the genre's stereotypical cutesiness by writing characters made of true guts and grit and infusing the proceedings with atypical saltiness and sexiness. Newcomers Lachlan and Glenn are appealing screen presences, but character actors Field and Jim Norton (as Brownie's father, Mumbles)--along with the stunning aerial shots of the Hawkesbury--are the true heart of the film.