Somersault

Australian writer-director Cate Shortland's Somersault stars Abbie Cornish as 16-year-old Heidi, whose only certainty seems to be her self-awareness of being sexually attractive to men. Fleeing from her home after getting caught making a play for her mother's weak-willed boyfriend, Heidi heads to the small town of Jindabyne, where she focuses on survival—trying to land a job and find a place to live, and relying on sex with strangers to get by in the meantime. Eventually, a motel manager (Lynette Curran) takes pity and puts Heidi up, and the girl develops a promising romance with a farmhand named Joe (Sam Worthington). Unfortunately, by that time Somersault has taken viewers on a rather tedious journey through a familiar teenage wasteland—marked by erratic, self-destructive behavior and candy-wrapper cluelessness occasionally offset by an out-of-nowhere mature insight—much of it shot in a tiresomely feverish blur. Worthington's character is actually more interesting dramatically (including his terse exchanges with a coldhearted father, thin-lipped evasiveness in response to Heidi's initial come-on, and hints of depression), and once Joe and Heidi's relationship is in full swing and facing up to the challenges of trust, compassion and loyalty, the film finally reels the viewer in. But by then, it's a little late. Optional. [Note: DVD extras include the 25-minute “Inside the Snowdome” making-of featurette, a 15-minute “Shooting Somersault” location interview with cinematographer Robert Humphreys, 10 minutes of deleted scenes with optional commentary by director Cate Shortland, and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a so-so film.] (T. Keogh)