Hey gang, Valkor here. And I'm taking MediaView back to the land
down under for this latest review. Nathan Hill has become a regular
here at TOV; Tomboys
was a hit with Epic-1, Séance
won me over with its super creepy atmosphere, and Jasper
wasn't as great as it could have been. Well Nathan doesn't let
one film bring him down because he's back again with a new film
"Model Behaviour" that shows he can really piece together one
hell of a film.
Model Behaviour centers on Jordan Rhodes (Nathan Hill), a detective for the Melbourne Police Department who gets caught up in a series of murders centered within the modeling industry. All signs point to one model, Alexis Clark (Stacey McMahaon), who stands to gain from murders; one strong link to Alexis are the images from the crime scene that appear in Glam Magazine sent from her email account. However Jordan makes a wrong move by sleeping with the prime suspect and losing his gun. Now all eyes are on him, which increases suspicion after the death of his partner Carla Murphy (Samira Amira). Now Jordan must try to not only prove his innocence but also discover who's exactly behind the murders.
Model Behaviour is a crime-thriller that opens and flows with Jordan already under questioning; essentially it's him retelling the events that took place from his perspective, with the film ending rather abruptly. Think the ending to Iron Man and you'll get my meaning. And now on with the TOV Breakdown.
The Good:
There hasn't been a Nathan Hill film that has come across my desk that I didn't like (save for Jasper). As for Model Behaviour, well... I fucking loved it! For starters the film quality is a definite step up from the previous films; Model Behaviour has a Hollywood look to it that shows off a nice polish. The film itself is very "Basic Instinct-ish", minus that gratuitous crotch shot. But almost beat for beat you catch some resemblances, especially in the relationship between Jordan and Alexis such as the cat and mouse dialogue they have with one another, and the seduction all screams of Verhoeven's classic, and that's a total compliment because I love Basic Instinct. And Model Behaviour, while not exactly eye to eye with the Sharon Stone hit, it does make for a perfect send up. The story is very straight forward with a few twists in between and one major twist towards the end (no spoilers). The run time is roughly 90 minutes and the film flows at a brisk, even pace; quick, but still very compelling and entertaining. The acting isn't the films strongest suite; however the two major players – Nathan Hill and Stacey McMahon are total standouts and make a very seductive pair. It's so much fun watching the back and forth between them. Finally I love that finale; it's very bold and abrupt. I can't imagine many films closing out in such a manner; however Model Behaviour does it rather successfully. Kudos!
The Bad:
Much of the acting is pretty stiff; It doesn't distract all that much because Nathan and a handful of other actors do such an amazing job keeping the pace, but it's still noticeable. Also the camera seems to set a little too close for my taste. I thought it was the zoom on my DVD player, but it's the actual film. Oh and the film needed more naked boobs. And there were tons of hotties in this film for there NOT to be more naked boobs.
The Ugly:
Dick in a jar. Yikes!
Was That…:
…The mask from Tomboys?
Model Behaviour is an Australian release and if you're interested in checking it out then you might wanna head on over to the official Facebook page on how to get your hands on this film; And trutheshly? Yea you want this! Model Behaviour is a sexy, compelling and entertaining ride from start to finish. I enjoyed it and I think you guys will too. So out of TOV 5 stars, I'm giving Model Behaviour 4.5.
