Review of T.I.M. (2014) by Alison O — 19 Feb 2005

Best in Show: Mel Gibson.

One for the future: Mel Gibson.

Stand-out scene: Short shorts at the seaside.

Brainer or no-brainer: Brainer.

Stands up to one viewing or repeated?: Repeated.

DVD commentary any good?: n/a.

TV.

The story has it that during the post-production on Mad Max, this movie's director (sometime actor Michael Pate) got word of the screen presence of its young star and cast him in this gentle Australian domestic drama. Developed from a story by Colleen McCullough (who also wrote the Thorn Birds; indeed her entire output consists of 'forbidden love' dramas - she went on to cover priest/young woman; nun/psychiatric patient dalliances after this spinster/special needs young man pairing. It being the late 70s, the colours of orange, brown and cream were being used in conjunction and shorts were being worn short. Flippancy aside however, this is actually a watchable movie evoking my formative years watching Australian dramas of varying quality. The cast (Gibson aside) went on to make appearances in such shows as Sons & Daughters, Prisoner Cell Block H and Blue Heelers (which also gave the world Hugh Jackman) and I must admit a fondness for Aussie drama and comedy right through from the before-mentioned shows to the likes of Sweetie and Muriel's Wedding. Tim is a builder's labourer working on the property next to forty-something businesswoman spinster Mary (Piper Laurie) and she engages his weekend services to sort out her garden (I could have used innudendo there, but I resisted). A friendship soon builds up, which progresses into the two of them tending to Mary's weekend beach property and eventually leads to something more than friendship. Tim's relationship with the members of his family (mom, dad and sister) is also given screen-time, which is some achievement given the movie's short running time. A Gibson back-catalogue gem.