Rams (2020)
(On Cable TV, March 2022) Considering the strong Australian tradition of quirky comedies, Rams is in good company. It’s not that funny, but it does have a pleasant atmosphere, as it looks at two crusty rival sheep farmers and their reaction once a deadly disease requires their irreplaceable flocks to be put down. Headlined by Sam Neill and Michael Caton, it credibly takes us deep in rural Western Australia, where nothing ever happens and that’s a good thing for most of the characters. When something does happen, it forces two brothers to re-evaluate their decades-long enmity, and precipitates other subplots. It doesn’t take a long time to realize that there’s something being hidden from the government inspectors, and that secret drives much of the third act. As someone with aging family members still involved in farming, I felt that Neill’s character was uncannily realistic. It makes the film a bit more interesting, as does walking through very convincing barn sets and the strained relationship between government inspectors, veterinarians and farmers. It’s not exactly accurate to place too much emphasis on the Australian roots of the film—after all, it’s a remake of an Icelandic film—but the sense of place is terrific and often beautiful even through a massive brush fire. Rams isn’t all that great of a movie, but I found it relatable enough to be worth the watch. It also ends on an uplifting note, which ensured that we’ll class it as a comedy even if the road to get there isn’t necessarily all that amusing.