Premise - The story of three male friends and three female friends in modern day Sydney, Australia. I was just channel surfing the other night and happened to spot Hugo Weaving flash onto the screen. So I took note of the name of the film and watched the replay later in the evening. After all, any film with Agent Smith and Elrond in it is worth a go in my opinion. A strange way to find a movie for sure, but it was worth my effort as Strange Planet, (if nothing stunning) is a pleasant enough and engaging way to spend ninety minutes. So, the movie it turns out is set over the course of one year and takes place between New Year 1999 and New Year 2000. The three male friends do not directly know the three females, but their lives are intertwined and over the course of the year they flit into each others stories. It's an interesting premise and it is quite intriguing seeing how each of the six peoples lives play out over the year and how they interact with the other characters. The female friends work, party, drink, take drugs, fall out and make up. The male friends do the same and for the most part it's fairly predictable stuff. Nothing that you haven't seen in a dozen of these twenty-something drama flicks is on offer and the film meanders along with little or no surprises to the 'saw it a mile off', ridiculously happy finale. So, it's predictable and in no way original. So why did I like the film so much? Well, I think it was because the film gave me 'the feeling'. The feeling you get when you're watching a film that makes you really connect with the characters. When you connect with the characters in such a way that you actually give a damn what happens to them. You want the film to go on, to learn how the rest of their lives play out. Strange Planet does this, much like last years excellent 'Late Night Shopping' I found myself connecting with the characters and getting swept away and involved in their lives. Aside from this director Emma-Kate Croghan (Love and Other Catastrophes) gives the film a nice modern look. It's nothing overpowering that takes the film over, but the segue's between scenes and some of the night club scenes show that she has a nice visual style that I would like to see again. An example is the way that the audio for the next scene starts as the previous scene is still on screen. Like I say nothing major, but nice it's little stylistic touches that give the film a nice edge. I was actually reminded of Danny Boyle by her style. If the feel and the direction of the film are excellent then it's depressing to note that the standard of acting drifts from the impressive to the downright average. Naomi Watts (Mulholland Drive) and Hugo 'god' Weaving are at the top end of the scale. Watts' prudish, frigid Alice is perhaps the best. Whilst Weaving is perfectly suited to the sleazy, womanising TV producer Steven. The rest of the cast are good, but a few do drop to a standard not a million miles from a made for TV drama. As far as the stories go, as I said they are quite intriguing and the year is broken up into chapters with a title card for each month (except for October and November. Which is confusing until one character quips that they always merge into each other and you wonder where they went). The pace is kept sprightly thanks to the sheer amount of characters that you have to keep track of. The lion share of the screen time does go to the female friends, but I actually found myself being more interested by the male stories. In particular the lawyer who quits to become a taxi driver after seeing the Robert De Niro film of the same name. In Alice's story there is an ill advised rape scene that doesn't fit with the light hearted tone of the rest of the movie. I can see no reason for including it in the film as it doesn't benefit the story or the character. It is never mentioned again in the film and for my money it was a mistake including it. Strange Planet is a bit of a mixed bag; it's unoriginal, predictable and has an obvious ending that sees every character end up happy. But, as I said I found myself getting drawn into the film thanks to an empathy I felt for the characters and their lives. It's probably only because I'm a twenty-something myself, no doubt other demographics will not get the film in the same way, but this was enough for me to give this small Australian film a recommendation.

/10. Poster Quote - Out of this world.