FILM REVIEW: RISK
FILM INFORMATION
DURATION: 92. 5 minutes
CATEGORY: Feature Drama
GENRE: Crime thriller
PRINCIPAL CAST:
Bryan Brown – Playing the part of John Kreisky, the crooked 'adjustor' at a large insurance company who is in charge of assessing personal injury claims. This part is not far off the mark for Bryan's typical character assignments, being a strong, tough, money-hungry man in a position of power, who is willing to take risks. This is somewhat similar to the character Pando who Bryan played in the award winning Australian film which was also produced by Megan Macgowan: Two Hands (Director Gregor Jordan 1999).
Tom Long – Plays the young and innocent Ben Madigan, a truly sincere and caring character, who is determined to make it big in the business world and accidentally stumbles into a money-skimming scam that causes him to rethink his moral values.
Claudia Karvan – Plays the sexy femme fatale role of lawyer Louise Roncoli, who is working along side Kreisky on the illegal money-skimming scam creating fraudulent claims of personal injury with fake clients. She puts on an electric performance in this film and is very seductive, playing girlfriend of Kreisky and sexual temptress to Ben.
CREW
DIRECTOR – Alan White
PRODUCER – Marian Macgowan
CO-PRODUCER – Giuseppe Pedersoli
EDITOR – Lee Smith
SCRIPT – John Armstrong (based on the short story 'The Adjustor' by Tracy Kidder.)
SCRIPT EDITORS – Tony Gavanaugh and Keith Thompson
ADDITIONAL SCRIPT MATERIAL – Steve Wright
DEVELOPED BY – Rachel Dixon
FUNDING
Australian Film Finance Corporation
Australian Film Commission
PRODUCTION / DISTRIBUTION COMPANIES
PRODUCTION COMPANY – Beneficiary films Pty Ltd
DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE – Film Victoria (a division of Cinemedia)
PRODUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE – New South Wales Film and Television Office (FTO)
IN ASSOCIATION WITH – The Premium Movie Partnership for Showtime Australia
INTERNATIONAL SALES – Beyond Films
EXTENDED CAST IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE
Ben Madigan – Tom Long
Louise Roncoli – Claudia Karvan
Colleen – Melissa Melden Grey
Chris – Jason Clark
John Kreisky – Bryan Brown
Instructor – Brian Meegan
Mrs Wheelam – Sharin Contini
Mr Wheelam – Thomas Clunie
Mrs Arnold – Gail Ballantyne
Mr Arnold – Barry Latchford
Woman (Child's mother) – Kim Lewis
Man in wheelchair – Andrew Wholley
Bruised woman – Monette Lee
Hospital husband – Michael Denka
Hospital wife – Sophie Greg
100% pay-out man – Stephen Leeder
100% pay-out woman – Jacqy Phillips
Civic waitress – Marisa Pouw
Grayson – Bob Baines
Young Auditor – Alan David Lee
Mansion man – Duncan Wais
Mick – Wayne Pigram
Rocky – Douglas 'Rocky' Macdonald
Detective Farrel – Kim Knuckey
Steve – Steve Morris
Kreisky double – Scott Gregory and John Walton
Louise double – Avryl Wynn
Ben double – Ashley Fairfield
RELEASE DATES
Risk had its world premiere in 2000 at the Toronto Film Festival, and according to Alan White ,the audiences responded very well.
According to the review by Peter Thompson on the ninemsn web site for the Sunday television program, Risk opened in cinemas around Australia during the week of May the 6th 2001.
BOX OFFICE FIGURES
Unavailable despite thorough searching of both Internet and library resources.
OVERSEAS SALES: JAN 2001-MAR 2002 (info taken from AFFC web site)
BUYER TERRITORY MONTH / YEAR
CD Land Israel Feb-Mar 2002
Metrodome International Ltd Ireland Oct-Nov 2001
Beliven Enterprises Ltd CIS Aug-Oct 2001
Guangdong Freeland Movie
and Video Productions Ltd China July-Aug 2001
AIPI Bulgaria May-July 2001
Lions Gate Entertainment Canada Apr-May 2001
Audio Visual Enterprises S.A. Greece Jan-Mar 2001
Crest International Japan Jan-Mar 2001
Mokep Hungary Jan-Mar 2001
OVERSEAS EXPORT LOCATIONS
Greece, CIS, Poland, Venezuela, Japan, Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg), South Korea, North America, U.K. & Ireland, Turkey, Israel, Hong Kong, Bulgaria, Hungary, Scandinavia, Thailand.
(Information courtesy of Rhiannon Haughee, Marketing assistant at Beyond Films distribution agency.)
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL DEAILS OF INTERVIEWS WITH FILMMAKERS
Peter Thompson's film review of Risk for the channel Nine Sunday program includes exerts from an interview with Alan White the director. This can be found on the ninemsn web page at the following address.
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/sunday/film_reviews/article_809.asp?s=1
An interview with Alan White has also been posted on the Urban Cinefile web site, through a link from the film review page for Risk. Here is the direct web address to the interview.
http://www.urbancinefile.com.au/home/view.asp?a=4849&s=Interviews
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL DETAILS OF REVIEWS IN NEWSPAPERS, JOURNALS OR BOOKS
Despite my hours of searching with the help of the librarian, nothing was turned up that gave any information on the film Risk, or the director Alan White, or other filmmakers associated.
DETAILS OF THE FILM'S ONLINE PRESENCE IN THE WEB LITERATURE
The film features on the web site "Urban Cinefile" which features movie reviews, DVD and video reviews. The Urban Cinefile web site includes a synopsis and three critical reviews, as well as an interview with director Alan White. This was one of the more useful web resourses. http://www.urbancinefile.com.au/home/view.asp?a=4832&s=Reviews
The web site for Film Victoria has no information about Risk despite being affiliated with the production of it. http://www.film.vic.gov.au
The web site for the Australian Film Finance Corporation gave me some basic information about the credits and also a table, which outlined the recent overseas sales of the film, including buyers and territories which received it. This can be seen at: http://www.ffc.gov.au/intro.html
Beyond Distributors' web site has no direct information about the film although there is a link to the email address of marketing assistants who will answer questions via email. Their email address is: films@beyond.com.au
The Australian Film Commission has limited information about the film on their web page, giving the general credits, category, genre, year produced, duration time and name of the production company. http://www.afc.gov.au
Peter Thompson's film review from the channel nine Sunday program is a good source of information for this film, including a detailed critical review and quotes from the director Alan White about his thoughts on the film.
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/sunday/film_reviews/article_809.asp?s=1
The Movie Show program on the SBS television station has numerous web pages for each review they have done on the show. The page for the film review of Risk features a critical review by David Stratton, respected cinema critic, and it also provides links to interviews with the lead characters Bryan Brown and Claudia Karvan, as well as an interview with Alan White.
http://www.sbs.com.au/movieshow/reviews.php3?id=692
DETAILS OF HOW I WENT ABOUT COLLECTING INFORMATION FOR THE RESEARCH
I started by looking at what other students had done on the OZ-Film database, to have some idea of what would be best ways to collect information. I then did a search on the net for the word Risk, which lead me to find the Urban Cinefile web site. This web site gave me some insight into what other critics thought about the film subsequent to its release, and also provided the only interview I could find with the director. I then searched the web for any sites that related to the production or distribution of the film, entering key words for the search that I had taken from the film credits. Some of the key words I used were: Australian Film Finance Corporation (AFFC), Cinemedia, Film Victoria, Beyond Films, Australian Film Commission (AFC), The Film and Television Office (FTO), Showtime Australia, and Village Roadshow. Of these searches the most useful web sites proved to be the AFFC and the AFC, where as the Beyond Distributors site provided an email link to a marketing assistant who gave minimal information about export locations.
I then turned to the Murdoch Library to look for anything published in papers, journals of books. I performed word searches for 'Risk' (1080 titles- none relating to the film), 'Risk-film' (6 titles- none relating to the film), 'Alan-White' (15 titles- none relating to the film), 'Director-Alan-White' (4 titles- none relating to the film). I then obtained the help of the library's help desk who performed a search of a series of databases, again with no luck. I then did a title search for cinema papers and found the year 2000 issues of Metro magazine, and Film Australia Annual Report, both of which were useless. Due to time and financial constraints I was unable to travel to other libraries in search of the very difficult to find information.
I returned to the Internet and searched on the GoEureka search engine for Australian Films, a web site for Risk turned up with the same reviews featured on the Urban Cinefile web site. However a link to a film review by Peter Thompson was also found which was helpful. My last effort on the web was a direct search for The Movie Show, took me straight to their home page with a review of Risk by David Stratton. From all of this research I began compiling my film review.
CRITICAL REVIEW
Tom Long plays the innocent character of Ben Madigan, a country boy who lands a job in a large insurance company in Sydney as an 'adjustor'. He is appointed with the task of handling personal injury insurance claims and making sure that he adjusts the pay-out so that the company never has to meet the full claim. It is through Ben's eyes that the audience experiences the twists and turns of the insurance business. He is thrown into whiplash-city, as his boss John Kreisky calls it, with only a couple of weeks to prove himself worthy of the job. Kreisky is played by Bryan Brown who is perfect for the role of the tough hard-nosed boss, who has been around long enough to know all the ins and outs of the insurance world. In fact he is smart enough to work out a way to skim money from the company undetected. Kreisky can see Bens sincerity and genuine sympathetic outlook towards people from day one and decides that Ben could be quite a useful asset for his crooked scam.
Taking Ben under his wing, Kreisky acts as a mentor, teaching him the ways of the insurance business so that Ben learns to use his sincerity to their advantage quickly becoming one of the best level 1 adjustors in the company. Ben uses his compassion and innocent face to convince clients that they are doing the right thing by signing away their right to a full pay-out on personal injury claims. However, Ben's innocence also means that he is somewhat slow at picking up on Kreisky's ulterior motives to use Ben in his scam. It begins to become more clear to Ben when he meets Kreisky's sexy lawyer girlfriend, Louise Roncoli, Claudia Karvan who is also involved in the money skimming operation. It isn't very long before she seduces the naive Ben into joining them with her sexy looks and persona. Karvan is electric in this role as the gorgeous femme fatale, and really breathes some life into the otherwise dull corporate world. The workings of the insurance scam are quite interesting and just simple enough to follow for even the easily confused audience member. They arrange staged car accidents, and sometimes use make-believe accidents, then Louise writes a fake claim of personal injury for a make believe client and lodges it with the insurance company through Kreisky. He then has Ben do the adjustment at a normal 80% so as not to draw any attention to the pay-out, and they keep the money. The film really starts to get interesting as Louise gets more and more greedy, and decides to sell shares in their scam to other crooks.
Kreisky doesn't approve of Louise's plan to take over and their smooth secretive operation explodes into a can of worms. Ben finds himself caught in the middle, infatuated with the beauty and sexual lure of Louise and his libido collides with his good moral beliefs, where as Kreisky is able to keep his mind clear enough to see danger when its in front of him. The film just keeps building in suspense until you are on the very edge of your seat for the fast paced hard hitting finale.
This film addresses the idea of white-collar crime in Australia, a type of crime that is very uncommon, but is not non-existent. The workings of the insurance scam have been designed quite cleverly, and makes for a very interesting basis for the plot. The dull and boring side of business is forgotten amongst the chaos and danger, which the shady triangle of characters get themselves into.
"This was a chance to explore the corporate world, and for the life of me I couldn't think of an Australian film that had chartered that territory," said Alan White.
The characters are played fantastically by a well chosen cast, Kreisky a well suited role for Bryan Brown after having played the role of Pando in Two Hands (Director Gregor Jordan 1999), as another crooked tough guy in a position of power. Bryan brought a crusty-humored maturity to the film with his strong, witty, clever persona and he can definitely play the part of someone with a chip on his shoulder. Claudia Karvan was also very successful despite playing a much darker role than she is accustomed to, and really helped draw the audience's attention with her unbelievable sex appeal. She also helped make the story more interesting by separating the two very different characters of Ben and Kreisky at the same as linking them in another way. Alan White commented on the characters saying…
"All these characters have shades of grey and I guess, you know, [I'm] attracted to the males' journeys. But also, I think because I had Claudia, Louise's character became a much more interesting character for me, and perhaps because she was playing against type as well. But, you know, I would be tempted ... as we all would be,"
Tom long seemed right for the role of Ben Madigan in Risk according to White, because of a need for someone with the look of "A naïve sexuality and an air of general innocence." With this I would have to agree because Tom definitely has boyish face that boasts the ability to appear trustworthy, honest and genuine.
Overall the film is difficult to categorise, I suppose that it is really part crime-thriller, part romance, drama, black comedy at times but according to White, he sees it as "an emotional thriller…a new noir with a light comic touch…it traverses different boundaries." I have to say that I would recommend this film very highly, it is an intensely interesting and exciting story with superb performances, not only from the leading actors but the entire cast. The creativity of Alan white makes the traditionally American genre of film noir just a touch different and it shows its Australian flavor.
"With Risk…I feel, that we can make our Australian film noir. There's no guns in this movie! You know, not a lot of it's shot at night — it's not all about shadows, there's cigarettes, but it's, you know, it's noir in the sun" says Alan.
The creative use of a variety of locations from within the Sydney CBD and the clever camera shots White has used make the setting so easy to get lost in. The performances of all cast members work to engage the audience throughout every step of the story which provides a tasty mix of humor, seriousness, suspense, romance, sexy thrills and hard hitting unexpected twists.
I rate this as a 'must see' film… 4 out of 5 stars. ****
Nathan Hackett.
CRITICAL UPTAKE ON THE FILM AT TIME OF RELEASE AND SUBSEQUENTLY
At the time of release, Risk was received quite well by film critics. According to Alan White, "audiences responded very positively" when it was premiered at the Toronto film festival in 2000 and in a smaller festival in Texas. Peter Thompson gave a glowing review during the week of Risk's release in Australian cinemas as well saying "the principal players are so lively that it turns out to be thoroughly engaging…It's definitely worth seeing." He says the film looks promising with its lead actors having come from good things, such as Bryan Brown being "a key player in the ensemble that made Two Hands a major hit three years ago." Peter also comments on the film's ability to appeal to a wider audience than Alan White's first feature the critically acclaimed Erskineville Kings, because it has more sexual sizzle and thrills and a selection of motivated, edgy characters with a refreshing take on contemporary morality.
Subsequently to its release, Risk received reviews which ranged from quite positive such as that of David Edwards featured on the Urban Cinefile web site, to mediocre reviews such as David Stratton's featured on The Movie Show web site, giving it a not bad 3 out of 5 stars. Stratton wrote that "though for a while the mechanics of the insurance scams are interesting, the film fails to be really involving as the screws tighten towards the end. This is no criticism of the three principle actors, all of whom are excellent, Tom Long showing real leading-man potential as the naïve Ben, Claudia Karvan a sexy femme fatale as Louise, and Bryan Brown in very top form as the avuncular Kreisky. There's something a little remote about the film, though, which held me at a remove from the drama."
SUBSEQUENT AND PRIOR WORK OF THE FILMMAKERS AND LEAD ACTORS.
Producer Marian Macgowan has been famous for her recent work as producer of the acclaimed film TwoHands starring Heath Ledger as the lead character Jimi and Bryan Brown as the evil criminal Pando. This flim was a huge success for Marian and Bryan with both of them taking home AFI awards for their efforts. Marain Macgowan won the best film and Bryan Brown won the best supporting actor. Tom Long also played a part in Two Hands as Wally, and after excelling himself in The Dish (2000) it is clear to see why Macgowan has used these two as key players again in Risk.
Claudia Karvan has done a lot of different work but never had to play a role quite as dark as that of Louise Roncoli, the devious crooked lawyer. She previously played the role of an unassertive intellectual science journalist called Tash, along side Guy Peirce in Dating the Enemy (Director Megan Simpson 1996). So this new type of hard-nosed criminal character took some adjusting to, however she managed to really give a greatly convincing performance with a highly magnetic sexuality. Claudia has gone on to play more sexy roles now with her current part in the successful television series The Secret Life of Us where she is a doctor, who has trouble choosing which man she
wants as her partner.
Director Alan White had only made one feature before Risk and that was the critically acclaimed Erskineville Kings. Currently White makes TV commercials in Los Angles to pay the rent, however he remains a dedicated Australian filmmaker none the less. In fact he refers to his commercial production job as "the Alan White Development Fund" to allow him save enough to develop his next project, a fish out of water film about a girl from New York who moves to Australia. "My priority project is about a girl from New York who comes to Australia escaping an impending marriage. She shacks up in Sydney with a rock band…which is her idea of heaven, but it quickly turns to hell" Says Alan. He is also working on another project, helping to develop a script with Andrew McPhail, producer of the recent film He Died With a Felafel in His Hand. The new script is for a film called Leftovers about a strange family in Perth WA, who are quite normal apart from their crazy half yearly ritual of eating a someone! Alan likes to maintain a high level of variety in his work, but he does so with style.
This review was put together by Nathan Hackett as part of the Australian Cinema unit at Murdoch University Perth WA. May 2002.