Back home

Lantana

220 votes

Producing House

Plagued with grief over the murder of her daughter, Valerie Somers suspects that her husband John is cheating on her. When Valerie disappears, Detective Leon Zat attempts to solve the mystery of her absence. A complex web of love, sex and deceit emerges -- drawing in four related couples whose various partners are distrustful and suspicious about each other's involvement.

movie

Status: Released

Released Date: 2001-10-04

Runtime: 121 mins

Director: Ray Lawrence

Spoken language: English

Genres: Crime, Drama, Mystery

Original title: Lantana

Production Companies: MBP, Jan Chapman Productions, Australian Film Finance Corporation, New South Wales Film & Television Office

Production Countries: Germany, Australia

Reviews

W

Wuchak
***Exceptional drama about a detective in Sydney… and so much more*** "Lantana" is an Australian drama from 2001 about four couples in the Sydney area (where the film was shot). There are some important peripheral characters as well. The husband of the main couple is a detective going through a mid-life crisis (Anthony LaPaglia). His wife (Kerry Armstrong) knows something's wrong and is getting counseling. The marriage of her counselor (Barbara Hershey) is also troubled due to the death of their young daughter 18 months earlier. The woman the detective is having a fling with (Rachael Blake) lives next door to a couple whose marriage is the only solid relationship in the story (Vince Colosimo & Daniela Farinacci). Or is it? When one of these women turns up missing the counselor's husband becomes a suspect (Geoffrey Rush). The reason the film's called "Lantana" is because lantana is a tangled shrub common in Australia, which represents the entanglements of the lives of the characters. It also symbolizes marriage since lantana has a sweet but bitter smell: it's beautiful with its flowers, but has "stings"; its branches weave together in a complicated way and in the story a woman is caught in the complexity of it. "Lantana" is the antithesis of big, dumb, effects-laden "blockbusters," which oddly enough often become boring with their overload of "exciting" things going on. "Lantana" effectively shows that ordinary life is more interesting and compelling, if done right. Human nature is explored through a blend of passionate emotions, misconceptions, betrayals, anger, premature conclusions, vanity, duty, ethics, lies, honesty, loyalty, repentance and restoration. Three of my all-time favorite dramas are "Grand Canyon” (1991), "Snow Angels" (2007) and “Pulp Fiction” (1994). I place "Lantana" in their company. That's how exceptional it is. The film runs 2 hours, 1 minute. GRADE: A
2019-11-17

Recommendations

Vigilante
3.1

Vigilante

1983-01-04

New York City factory worker Eddie Marino is a solid citizen and regular guy, until the day a sadist

We Don't Live Here Anymore
2.8

We Don't Live Here Anymore

2004-08-13

Married couple Jack and Terry Linden are experiencing a difficult period in their relationship. When

Fort Apache, the Bronx
3.2

Fort Apache, the Bronx

1981-02-06

From the sight of a police officer this movie depicts the life in New York's infamous South Bronx. I

FX's A Christmas Carol
3.6

FX's A Christmas Carol

2019-12-19

London, 1843. Ebenezer Scrooge, a bitter old man, despises the Christmas holiday. Over the course of

Crush
1.9

Crush

2009-04-01

Julian is perfectly happy in his relationship with the pretty blond Clare. That is, until he meets A

The Music Man
2.8

The Music Man

2003-02-16

Traveling con artist Harold Hill targets the naïve residents of a small town in 1910s Iowa by posing

An Ideal Husband
3.2

An Ideal Husband

1999-01-14

Sir Robert Chiltern is a successful government minister, well-off and with a loving wife. All this i

Dear Evan Hansen
0

Dear Evan Hansen

2025-01-23

Evan Hansen, a high schooler with social anxiety, unintentionally gets caught up in a lie after the

The Racket
3.1

The Racket

1951-10-25

The big national crime syndicate has moved into town, partnering up with local crime boss Nick Scanl

Tension
3.4

Tension

1949-11-25

Warren Quimby manages a drugstore while trying to keep his volatile wife, Claire, happy. However, wh

Harry Brown
3.4

Harry Brown

2009-11-11

An elderly ex-serviceman and widower looks to avenge his best friend's murder by doling out his own

Amsterdam
1.9

Amsterdam

2009-05-10

A rich American couple, a family of Dutch criminals, a French gay couple, a working class family fro

The Winter Guest
3.2

The Winter Guest

1997-12-27

It's winter in a small Scottish village near the sea, and multiple lives intersect in a day. Frances

Love Happens
2.9

Love Happens

2009-09-18

Dr. Burke Ryan is a successful self-help author and motivational speaker with a secret. While he hel

The Unholy Wife
2.2

The Unholy Wife

1957-06-24

A woman marries a man for his wealth, then concocts a plan to kill him, take his money, and run off

Autumn Girl
2.4

Autumn Girl

2021-11-12

Polish film and music icon Kalina Jedrusik, a scandalous free-spirited sex symbol, fights for her in

Pygmalion
3.5

Pygmalion

1938-10-06

When linguistics professor Henry Higgins boasts that he can pass off Cockney flower girl Eliza Dooli

A Taste of Honey
3.5

A Taste of Honey

1961-10-01

While out to avoid spending time with her narcissistic and promiscuous mother, sixteen-year-old Jo h

Looking for Alibrandi
3.2

Looking for Alibrandi

2000-05-04

Josie Alibrandi is 17 and doesn't know where she belongs. This year, however, everything is going to

Night of the Demon
3.5

Night of the Demon

1957-11-09

American professor John Holden arrives in London for a conference on parapsychology only to discover