"Actor: Jason Contini"

• Risk | DVD | (16/07/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  The world of insurance hasn't exactly inspired a wealth of memorable cinema, but Australian film Risk is a feisty, funny, clever and, yes, insurance-related movie. Drawing on a range of cinematic themes (good cop/bad cop, the young newcomer and his guiding light, a love triangle) the film offers a fresh insight by virtue of its unusual setting. Ben Madigen (Tom Long) finds himself working in the business by default and is soon taken under the wing of the charismatic John Kreisky (Brown). While trying to undertake his job without compromising his principles, Madigen is unwittingly lured into a scam by Kreisky and his girlfriend, lawyer Louise Roncaldi (Claudia Karvan). The burgeoning and later unravelling relationship between the three is the film's key story, as Long finds himself torn between the other two. Brown is excellent as the scheming Kreisky, once again proving that his failure to move into a more major acting league is little short of baffling--but then, this type of imaginative film offers him more scope than Cocktail or FX ever could and serves as a welcome advertisement for the growing Australian movie industry. This is a highly intelligent film that keeps its plot-cards closely to its chest, keeping the viewer guessing throughout. On the DVD: the usual scene selection is coupled with the trailer, which presents the film (slightly misleadingly) in pulsating, high-action tones. The "making of" featurette offers the viewer an insight into not very much happening (look, there's a man pushing something) and gives the cast an opportunity to take themselves a little too seriously. --Phil Udell

• Shadowland | DVD | (24/05/2010) from £20.23   |  Saving you £-5.24 (-35.00%)   |  RRP £14.99

  An old church in a modern North American city is undergoing a renovation. Construction equipment and piles of debris cover the grounds. A deep pit has been dug for new sewer pipes. Night falls. A woman crawls from the pit. She weak and covered with mud her face beaten her throat cut. She is unable to speak remember who she is or how she got there. This is Laura. Hungry thirsty she ventures out into the city stealing food and warm clothes to survive. As she wanders the streets she begins to see things that jar her memory: a picture on a wall a historical marker a map. Slowly she starts to out the pieces together - the old river front a house and a family a lover and a jealous suitor. She embarks on a trek across the city trying to blend in and adjust to a modern world she has never seen before. Julian a mysterious young man employed by the church is sent out to find her. He seems to know more about her than she does tracking her quickly deducing that she is headed home to the place where she used to live - more than a hundred years ago. Is Laura reincarnated? Resurrected and risen from the grave? Or is she just the unfortunate victim of a horrible crime buried in the mud and left for dead? Is Julian really trying to help her as he claims or is he part of the conspiracy a plot to kill her?