Movie Review: 'Dirt Music' is a Hidden Gem of 2020

There is no reason to deny it, I am a sucker for a romantic melodrama with a great soundtrack. Dirt Music, the new movie from director Gregor Jordan (Ned Kelly) and starring Garrett Hedlund and Kelly McDonald, is exactly that, a terrific romantic melodrama with a wonderful soundtrack of folksy acoustic tracks. I adored every single moment of this movie, even as I could feel the plot mechanics click-click-clicking away.

Georgie (Kelly McDonald) has grown weary of domestic life. She’s the kept woman of a rich fisherman, played by David Wenham, famous for his role in Lord of the Rings, and everyone in their small Aussie fishing village lets her know how useless she is. One morning, well before the sun has risen, Georgie hears a dog barking from down on the beach. She goes to investigate and that’s where she finds a car and the dog attached to it by a rope, it’s owner out at sea

She lets the dog off its leash and it takes off into the ocean. She follows after, stripping nude and bathing in the moonlight and water so blue and crystalline it’s every bit as beautiful as she is. She retrieves the dog. The same thing happens the following day, only this time, Georgie meets the dog’s owner, Lou (Garrett Hedlund). Lou is out hours before dawn so that he can steal crabs from Georgie’s fisherman boyfriend.

The paths of Lou and Georgie will cross once again the following day. This time it’s daylight and Georgie’s car has broken down as she was headed out of town, nowhere in particular. He picks her up and gives her a ride out of town and the two end up making love so passionately, they don’t have time to remove their clothes beyond making room for the important parts. It’s only after the love making that they actually formally introduce themselves to each other.

Georgie is in the process of leaving her fisherman boyfriend, as soon as she can figure out where to go. Lou is lost in throes of grief. Not long before this story began, he lost everything in a car wreck. Lou’s brother, Darkie, sister in-law Sal, and his beloved niece Birdy, died in a car accident and Lou survived. He’s lived with non-stop emotional agony ever since. He and Darkie and Sal were in a band together but now music brings Lou nothing but pain.

That’s just the setup for Dirt Music. Director Gregor Jordan, working from a screenplay by Jack Thorne, adapted from a novel by Tim Winton, has some surprises in store. The final act of Dirt Music is legitimately harrowing, filled with suspenseful melodrama. You may assume stories like this have a happy ending, the best movies make you forget that you know where things are headed.

Dirt Music got under my skin. The romance, the music, these two beautiful actors, I was intoxicated by Dirt Music. I am not one for assessing the attractiveness of a man but if I were, hoo boy, Garrett Hedlund would be my type. I’ve long found Hedlund compelling, even as Hollywood tried to force him into becoming a leading man. Stardom was not a role that Hedlund ever became comfortable with as evidenced by stinkers like Tron Legacy and Pan.

Hedlund appears far more at home in a story like this where his soulful, wizened, eyes can do the dramatic heavy lifting. Hedlund and MacDonald are a lovely couple, sexy and easy to root for. He’s desperately haunted and she’s longing for a purpose that caring for him gives her. For a time it appears like his past, which includes a laborious backstory with her fisherman ex-boyfriend, won’t allow them to be together and the sadness of these dramatic contrivances drives the second act of the movie.

I adore Dirt Music. Yes, there are strong echoes of formula romantic melodrama but this is high level romantic melodrama. Dirt Music makes up for any perceived over-familiarity by being pretty to look at and exceptionally well crafted. The cinematography by Sam Chiplin and Rick Rifici is gorgeous, aided, obviously, by the existing beauty of Australia. The rugged islands surrounding Australia provide a glorious backdrop for the high level drama of the final act.

Then there is that soundtrack, my goodness what a lovely soundtrack. I’m a sucker for soulful acoustic tunes and Dirt Music overflows with lovely acoustic ballads and rootsy rockers. Garrett Hedlund has a unique voice that reminded me of a young Bob Dylan with the roughness of a young Neil Young. I’m over-praising, I’m sure of it, but that’s what Hedlund’s singing evoked in my memory and I was enthralled listening to him.

Dirt Music will be available for streaming on Friday, July 17th.