The Dressmaker ***½ (2015, Kate Winslet, Judy Davis, Liam Hemsworth, Hugo Weaving, Sarah Snook) – Movie Review

The Dressmaker is a unique, stylish and very entertaining black comedy with its first three quarters hilarious but then there is a couple of big shocks when characters die and the story turns really dark and dramatic.

Kate Winslet is on her finest form as Myrtle ‘Tilly’ Dunnage, a glamorous vengeful Aussie returning for payback with her Singer sewing machine, golf clubs and great dress sense to her small home town chock full of real crazy folk. Winslet really relishes her role as a vengeance-seeking femme fatale in haute couture. Ah yes, ‘revenge is back in fashion’, very good!

Judy Davis as Winslet’s old hag of a mum Molly and Hugo Weaving as the cross-dressing cop Sergeant Farrat are hysterical, and Liam Hemsworth is ideal as the romantically inclined Teddy McSwiney, the local hunk who takes quite a shine to the surprisingly reluctant Tilly.

The screenplay by director Jocelyn Moorhouse and her husband P J Hogan (Peter Pan [2003], Muriel’s Wedding [1994])  is based on Rosalie Ham’s best-selling novel.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Movie Review

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