Ned Kelly

Well, I was starting to wonder if I'd ever see the day (well, not including his brief appearance in Black Hawk Down, anyways), but I actually watched a movie the other night that featured Orlando Bloom in a role where he WASN'T wielding either a sword or a bow and arrows. The movie in question would be Ned Kelly, starring Heath Ledger as the title character, with Orlando Bloom starring as his best friend. Ned Kelly is basically an Australian western, and tells the story of a real Australian outlaw - pretty much Australia's equivalent to Jesse James. Like Jesse James, he robbed banks and fought the police because of the corrupt nature of the government at that time (among other things, his mother was jailed in his place for a shooting that he didn't even commit).

All in all it was a pretty good movie. Heath Ledger does a great job, and Orlando is really good as a charming womanizer who's seducing every woman he encounters (not too surprising a role considering his appeal with the ladies). There's a great scene in the movie where he seduces a bank manager's wife while the gang is robbing the bank, while the bank manager sits in the other room wondering what his wife is doing. It's pretty funny.

The best scene, though, is the big gunfight finale of the movie. The police have this pub surrounded, and inside are Ned Kelly and the three other members of his gang (along with a bunch of innocent bystanders). The gang goes outside to meet the cops, wearing thick, heavy steel armor! They've even got simple helmets that they've hammered together. The cops, naturally, are more than a little shocked as they empty their guns into the four men, only to see them still standing there. The gang then start blasting away at the cops. And interestingly enough, this wasn't some Hollywood idea, but an event that actually happened. In the special features of the DVD is a featurette about the real Ned Kelly, and I guess this gunfight did really take place, and the armor Ned Kelly wore (basically just steal plates on his chest and back, and a crude helmet) is on display at a museum in Australia.

So if you're a fan of Jesse James type movies, or just Westerns in general, then I highly recommend Ned Kelly.