End Play/Review

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< End Play
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A young blonde hitchhiker in denim hotpants thumbs for a ride on the side of the road. After being passed by a couple of times, she smiles as a unseen driver stops to pick her up. He doesn't waste any time in kissing her. His hand moves over her breasts and down to her lap, across her legs and then up to the glove compartment. He takes something out. We find out before too long that it was a stabbing implement. We don't see her being stabbed, but we feel it from her shocked face.

So begins End Play, a tense two-hander adapted from a best selling novel. George Mallaby and John Waters play brothers in amidst a murder investigation. Not until the end is there overt suspense, but it's not really overt suspense that Burstall seems to want. The whole film has this suspense boiling below the surface. Dialogue is loaded with subtext and impressive performances convey that whilst the characters are engaged in small talk on the surface, there's a lot more going on underneath the surface. Shot classically by Robin Copping, this film is not characteristic of its prolific director, Tim Burstall, known mostly for Alvin Purple. But it is nonetheless an enjoyable experience. Particularly for its use of the theme song sung by Linda George and Peter Best's effective score.

Reviewed by Angel

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