Movie review and lead actor interview: Luke Arnold in Broken Hill

by John P. Meyer

The publicists for Broken Hill, a refreshingly original indie pic from Australia, decided on the label of "musical drama" for referring to the movie in generic fashion. I suppose that fits pretty well, as long as you aren't tricked into thinking it's actually a musical (as in Hello, Dolly or Fiddler on the Roof). I mean, you won't find this set of rambunctious teenage characters singing their lines or anything. (And bravo to that.)

Rather, the film is a drama (of the coming-of-age variety) that's centered around music as a primary story element.

Our lead player, in fact (talented newcomer Luke Arnold, as Tommy McAlpine), finds himself so engrossed in his passion for music that he conducts an imaginary outback orchestra when he ought to be digging postholes on his father's sheep ranch. Luke's father, George (Timothy Hutton, wearing the part well but struggling a bit with the Aussie accent), has come to terms with his son's devotion to music, expecting that Tommy will eventually snap out of it and get serious about ranching. (Not to mention footy, which the senior McAlpine coaches at the local high school.)

Tommy, though, shows no interest in diverting attention from his compositional mania, having lately earned the disrespect of almost everyone thanks to a school talent show in which he conducts a student band in a performance of his original score. (It comes out sounding rather more polytonal than the composer intended.) In fact, his only serious interest beyond music lies in the direction of the hot American exchange student in his class (Alexa Vega as Kat Rogers).

Tommy's wheelchair-bound buddy Scott (Rhys Wakefield) eggs him on to make a play for the comely yank, going so far as to write some lines of poetic dialog for Tommy's use in asking her out to the dance -- which Tommy delivers, much to Kat's merriment and his mortification.

Kat, however, finds at least one thing to like about Tommy: his pickup truck. It takes little more than a bat of her eyelids to bring both Tommy and his vehicle on board for a spree of malicious mischief that lands them both in the hoosegow.

It's here in the clink that Tommy makes the acquaintance of legendary outback criminal Kalai Takalua (Che Timmins). Kalai will eventually play a key role in Tommy's compositional career, but for now he simply serves as a sympathetic listener.

Kat and Tommy are soon remanded to the custody of their parents and sentenced to a stint of community service. In one of the work program options presented to them, Tommy thinks he has found a means of achieving his dream of making a big impression on a talent agent for the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. When Kat discovers it involves working with prison inmates, she's all against it -- but their fates have been tied together by the judge, and Tommy prevails upon her to give it a go.

They are tasked with resurrecting a long-disbanded prison orchestra and whipping them into shape for a regional competition -- which starts out being a pretty tall order, given the fact that the few prisoners who show up in response to their posting seem anything but musically inclined. [Except for classical guitar-playing con Ricardo (George Kapiniaris), who evinces a disconcertingly intense interest in Kat.]

Coming to their manpower-shortage rescue is Tommy's jailhouse pal Kalai, who greases prison wheels and lends his considerable juice to the undertaking. Before long, Tommy and Kat's band is beginning to make noises that sound like actual music -- and Kat and Tommy are finding more common ground than they ever dreamed of sharing.

At 102 minutes, Dagen Merrill's charming, good-hearted "musical drama" drags in places, with Tommy and Kat being shown to make one or two too many dirt road traverses to and from the prison; but this leisurely-paced production redeems itself in the final reel, as Tommy's orchestral score is brought thrillingly to life in a Sydney performance hall. (No, not that one.) Without the opportunity to actually hear what Tommy's talent is all about -- and without it coming off as a really moving piece of music -- Broken Hill might easily have ended up a flawed production. As it is, there's nothing broken about it.

Memorable convict supporting performances are turned in by Andy McPhee as Bear, who sings the same note regardless of which key is played on the piano; Luke O'Loughlin as Fuzz, who knows his way around an inverted washtub, if not a tuned kettle drum; and the aforementioned George Kapiniaris as Ricardo. (Kapiniaris plays a mean guitar, I'm just sayin'.)

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I fired off ten questions to Luke Arnold, star of Broken Hill, whose performance I found to be one of the best things about the movie. Luke was kind enough to provide the following responses:

Pegasus News: How hard did you have to work to get the role of Tommy McAlpine in Broken Hill? Were there a number of auditions involved?

Luke Arnold: Actually, not that hard at all. I did one audition in Melbourne, with two scenes prepared, and it seemed to go pretty well. They asked me to cold-read a few more scenes after that, so I gave that a shot, and that was that. I never really thought I had a chance though. A week later the phone rang and I found out I had the role. A week later I was in Adelaide, and a week after that we started shooting.

PN: This is your first feature film role, and you're playing the lead. You basically have to carry the film. Did this make you nervous going into the production?

LA: I think the thing that saved me was that there wasn't time to be nervous. Obviously I knew I was in way over my head, but the only thing to do was to jump in with both feet and take on the challenge. Luckily I was surrounded by a really supportive cast and crew that kept me confident, and focused on the work. I saved all the self-doubt for when I got back home.

PN: Broken Hill's director, Dagen Merrill, is also a newbie at the feature film biz. What was it like taking direction from him on the set?

LA: It would be impossible to sing Dagen's praises too highly. He's clear, focused, and intelligent. I was able to put my trust in him immediately, which is the most important element of the actor\director relationship. It means I'm free to offer up all kinds of things as a performer, not worrying about how stupid I look or if I'm taking things too far, and know that he'll reel me back in if need be.

He is always a calm and clear presence on set, which has an effect on the whole production.

PN: Timothy Hutton and you seem to be believable as father and son -- in fact, you two actually do bear a certain physical resemblance. Has anyone else mentioned this?

LA: Yeah, it gets commented on quite a bit. It's an example of some really considered casting I think. Because of Timothy's schedule, we didn't have a chance to meet 'til right before we started shooting our scenes. Acting with Timothy Hutton was a completely different experience. All our scenes are quite charged too, so I was nervous about going toe-to-toe with an actor of his calibre. But he is one of the most generous and giving actors I've ever had the pleasure of working with, and I think his presence gives a lot of power to the Tommy/George relationship in the film.

PN: Your romantic interest in the film is played by Alexa Vega, who has a lot of acting experience under her belt. She's also quite pretty. How did you two get along on the set?

LA: Well to be honest, I was a little worried. I didn't know how she was going to feel, this experienced and famous American starlet, coming to act across from some guy from Australia who's never been in a film before. I needn't have worried though. Alexa is hilarious, beautiful, and downright crazy. I defy anyone not to get along with Alexa Vega.

Being such a lovely girl, it was a novelty for her to play the mean and rebellious Kat, but she pulls it off perfectly.

PN: Did you do anything special to prepare for the role? (Your character rides a motorbike and conducts an orchestra ... )

LA: Well in the film, Tommy rides a motorbike, conducts an orchestra, plays classical piano, kicks a goal in a game of Aussie-rules football, and shears sheep. None of which I'd really done before. Luckily, we had a whole week of rehearsal to learn all of these skills. After days of shooting, most of my free time was spent trying to perfect these elements as well as I could. I won't say that I pulled it off completely, but it's amazing how quickly you can learn something when you have to.

PN: The film's big payoff comes in the form of a final-scene concert performance. The music is really quite fantastic. Can you tell us who is responsible for it?

LA: A fantastic composer by the name of Chris Brady. I have to humbly concede to him being the real star of this film. I've seen it a number of times now, and even I still get chills. The music was always going to be important, but Chris has really outdone himself.

PN: Are all Australian convicts as well-behaved as the ones in the movie?

LA: Well unfortunately, I haven't had much opportunity to know real prisoners, but I'd like to think they are. Some of them anyway. Because all it can take to end up in jail can be one bad decision. Bear (Andy McPhee), one of the prisoners, sums it up nicely in the film, when he says that forming the band shows them that "a few mistakes doesn't make them totally worthless."

PN: I'm reading that you've also worked on an in-development Stephen Speilberg project, Band of Brothers: Pacific. What sort of character do you play in that upcoming HBO miniseries?

LA: I play a character called Augie, who's in the mental ward of the hospital at Banika. It was a small role, but it was great to be involved for a few days. I'm eagerly awaiting the final product, even though my part in it will be quite brief.

PN: Will you be doing any U.S. press tours in support of the film?

LA: Yes. I was planning to be over in the states this week, but I'm finishing work on a television series called Rush. We finish the season at the end of the month and then I'll be heading over to the U.S. when the film starts to hit more cities. For now I just have to wait to hear how our first American audiences respond.

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