After the murder of his wife by a homicidal ex-client, former criminal lawyer Jack Irish (Guy Pearce) now makes a living from debt collection, apprentice cabinet making and pulling elaborate betting scams. In Bad Debts, when a phone message from one of Jack’s ex-clients turns out to be his last words, it leads Jack to suspect that the circumstances of the man’s death were not as reported. The takes him into the murky past in order to understand the dangers the present now holds.
In Black Tide, when an old friend of Jack’s long-dead father asks for help to find his missing son, Jack is soon lost in a world of drug-smuggling, corruption and intimidating thugs, all of which stand between him and the truth.
Now that UK home video has exhausted pretty much every crime drama to come out of Scandinavia in the last decade, distributors are looking elsewhere to provide mystery junkies with their next hit. Bad Debts and Black Tide are a pair of Australian TV films adapted from Peter Temple’s novels of the same names. Starring Guy Pearce, in what for many will be their first experience of the man speaking in his native accent (especially if you’re too young to remember him in Neighbours), he convinces as a relatable everyman constantly finding himself in undesirable situations, reacting not as some action hero, but rather in the manner an ordinary person would.
Unusually for stories like these, Jack is neither a police officer nor a private investigator, but merely someone with a strong sense of right and wrong who helps out people who deserve it and are otherwise unable to help themselves. Jack’s work as a debt collector has afforded him some skill in tracking down people who don’t want to be found, and while he never goes out intentionally looking for trouble, the questionable practices of those he searches for mean it has a knack of finding him.
The structure of both films is pretty much the same, beginning with what should have been a relatively simple assignment ending up swiftly escalating into a convoluted mystery involving a myriad assortment of people, which eventually leads to a confrontation and a swift resolution. Along the way there are about a dozen named minor characters to keep track of in addition to the regulars each with a part to play in the unravelling mystery.
There’s a great deal of humour interspersed amidst the investigating, with lines like “It’s going to be an extra 5% to cover my shock at having a World War II pistol pointed at my genitalia, or “I think the technical term for your situation is what we call rooted’, delivered deadpan, along with other comic touches such as the illustration of property deals using restaurant condiments, or Jack’s new reporter girlfriend Linda having a revelation mid-cunnilingus.
While Jack Irish is a bit more light-hearted than most of the comparable fare pouring from the frozen north of Europe, the tone never approaches flippant, and its constant handle on the humanity of any given situation makes everything feel relatable.
Overall Verdict: While a lot of concentration is required to completely follow their labyrinthine plotting, the stories are engaging and rewarding, while their likable protagonist adds to their watchability.
Special Features:
Behind the Scenes (Black Tide only)
Reviewer: Andrew Marshall