The Bet

The directorial debut of former actor Mark Lee (best-known as the co-lead of Gallipoli, 1981), is a stylish stockmarket thriller/drama with a strong cautionary message. Scripted (and produced) by former corporate lawyer Caroline Gerard, the metrosexual lifestyle of glass and steel office buildings, Neo-Moderne inner-city apartments and fashionable watering holes that it depicts looks and feels authentic enough to provide an entertaining outing for those either living this way or aspiring to. Sydney is given a very good showing thanks to some slick lensing by DOP Hugh Miller and Lee keeps the tension building as the plot unfolds. The performances are solid with Newtown charming as the boy-next-door, Sybilla Budd,a winning screen presence, as Tori, his rangy lawyer girlfriend and Aden Young perfectly cast as the handsome cad.

Where the film falls short is in the detail. What this means is that overmuch effort is put into establishing the stylistic context of the drama but not enough on the drama itself. This is most apparent with the character of Will and his relationship with Tori. The core of the film is the ethical maelstrom into which Will is drawn in order to play the boy’s only game of who (effectively) can piss the furtherest. Lee and Gerard spend a good deal of the first part of the film establishing the moral vacuity of their bright and shiny cul-de-sac but little in exploring why an essentially nice guy such as Will (who by virtue of this quality attracts nice girl Tori) would be part of it and what psychologically is at stake for him. Thus the effort expended in demonstrating the superficiality of this world ends up affecting the characterisation. Whilst this is not a problem where Angus, whose only purpose is to be the villain of the piece, is concerned it leaves us disconnected from Will himself. When a good way into the film his father (Roy Billing) is introduced in order to give us some of Will's background it is too late to have much impact and feels extraneous. And most importantly, given the mood of glib machismo that pervades, we as an audience do not feel Will’s pain when he falls.

 To some extent this concentration on the broad strokes makes the story somewhat difficult to follow, particularly in the final stages and especially for those not familiar with the world of share trading when Will tries to make good his losses. Equally, the rockiness of his relationship with Tori comes across at times as forced, requiring us to gloss over the questions that consequently arise. The Bet approaches some interesting material and had more attention been paid to the dramatic aspect it could have been a very strong film indeed.

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