Ned Kelly (2004)

Originally Written
Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Ned Kelly is considered an Australian legend, but the question remains was he a natural born killer, or just driven into the life of an outlaw by the injustice of the law itself? Whatever your conviction may be this version of the story will definitely side you with the Kelly gang over the corrupted hand of the law.

The Kelly family is not well regarded by the law in their town, the film doesn't go into much explanation why, but it is obvious that the family or at least Ned's father had not been well regarded and must have had some previous run ins with the law. In the film's opening Ned Kelly is falsely accused of stealing a horse, leading to an altercation with an officer and Kelly's eventual prison sentence of ten years (according to historical records it was actually three), the actual person responsible for the theft received only eighteen months. When freed, Kelly returns home to his family and begins to rebuild his life, starting to work for a wealthy family, and falling in love with the wife of that family played by Naomi Watts.

Things begin to snowball for the Kelly family when their horses are stolen by none other than one of town's police officers, Alexander Fitzpatrick, mainly out of hatred for the Kelly men and because one of the daughters rejected his advances. The Kelly's take back their horses, but this only angers Fitzpatrick more. Drunk, Fitzpatrick makes his way to the Kelly home and proclaims he has a warrant to arrest Ned and his brother, when asked to show this warrant Fitzpatrick pulls out his pistol and proclaims it was the only warrant he needed. Upon this act he forces his way into their home, and upon one of the daughters, resulting in the Kelly brothers giving him a severe "beat down", and injuring his wrist. Bloodied and drunk Fitzpatrick returns to town proclaiming to the other officers that Ned Kelly had shot him in the wrist, but Ned wasn't even present at the altercation, he was with Julia Cook (Naomi Watts).

Fitzpatrick's lie becomes the catalyst that leads to the premise of the film. Ned, his brother and two of his friends (one played by Orlando Bloom) flee from the city to prevent being arrested, provoking the police to throw his mother in jail for "attempted murder". Ned goes to Julia Cook and asks her to go to the police and tell them he was with her night of the incident, but she does not want it to be discovered that she had an affair with him. Unjustly accused of something he didn't do, and the false imprisonment of his mother leads Ned Kelly and his gang to a life of crime.

In the end, Ned Kelly ends in a standoff with an army of a hundred British officers as they fight for their freedom, their mother's freedom and the freedom of their country. At the end of the film you will surely have a hatred for the British enforcers and sadness for the fate of the Kelly Gang. Overall Ned Kelly is a very well done "biography" of a little known (to those outside Australia) Australian historical figure. I was kept interested the entire time by the story and the portrayal of the character by an all-star cast and one of Heath Ledger's best performances. You really begin to get pulled into the story, and while the film doesn't chronicle the whole history of Ned Kelly it does seem, in what little research I have done, that this man Fitzpatrick did indeed lie about Kelly shooting him which clearly appears to have been the spark that lit the fire. I encourage you to check out Ironoutlaw.com if you're interested in reading more about this story, where a more historical account of the actual occurrences are told and decide for yourself the truth about Ned Kelly.

8/10