Whilst this movie did have "some" positives, overall, I didn't like it, and didn't enjoy it. Certainly, the cinematography was phenomenal and brilliantly shot across Victoria in the Otways, Dandenong and Yarra Valley ranges. In fact, I'd go so far as to say the stunning rainforest landscape is not only the integral character, but the absolute real star in this film. The story centres around five women who go on a corporate hiking trip deep in the rainforest, but only four return, each telling a different story and each of them all seem to be hiding something about their traumatic experiences. As it happens, the one who is missing is "Alice" (played by Anna Torv), and "of course", she's an informant to Federal Agents Aaron Falk and Carmen Cooper (played by Eric Bana & Jacqueline McKenzie) on a big money laundering case they were working on. When Falk receives a panicked, static phone call from Alice which cuts out half way through, Falk knew "she's in trouble" and needs help. Typically & predictably, agents Falk & Cooper are sent to investigate and try to get to the bottom of what "really happened" out there in the rainforest. As Falk and Cooper close in on the case, they uncover worrying details about the connections between all the other women, hence increasing the concern about his missing friend and informant. Of course, again, rather predictably, they're in a somewhat race against time to hopefully find Alice alive before "the mother of all storms" hit, halting the search, this has many problems beyond the awful title (Force of Nature) which is totally irrelevant and has nothing to do with the storyline. As for "The Dry", it's much more like "The Wet". Very, very wet!! The plot itself is weak with too much going on, and it doesn't hold your interest in the same way its predecessor did. In my view, despite some outstanding performances, especially by Eric Bana, it's a poor follow up to the first movie. Also found the movie and the narrative "way too confusing and over complicated" especially when it constantly flicks back to Falks painful memories of the past when (as a boy), his mother was lost in the same rainforest region many years earlier. The dynamics & relationships between the women are difficult and strained, with a whole mirage of complex inter- related and interpersonal relationships which I thought made it way more confusing than it needed to be. As for Alice, she's somewhat of a bully and quite unlikeable. This is a problem because I feel it leaves the audience not really caring what happens to her. Deborah-Lee-Furness's performance as the sensible "mother-like" persona in constantly preventing all the other women from killing each other & hosing down quarrels, was "ok", predictable, but nothing to write home about. Way too many side stories that lacked connection or substance. Clunky acting and shallow dialogue. Just had so much potential. The end was disappointing as was the overall feeling I left with.
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