a multiplicityof Aboriginalwomen– somethingthat is still
too rare on Australianscreens.And Yovichgives a master-
class in how to act throughsilenceas a womanwho is lost
and struggling,until she smileswith enough power to turn
a cinemaaudienceto tears.
The challengeTopEndWeddingfaces is carryingthe
audiencethroughthe awkwardfirst act so they are ready
for this remarkablepay-off.For a lesseractor than Tapsell,
this might not have been worth it. But thanksto Tapsell,and
the top end itself, the film succeeds.The NorthernTerritory
is the true co-leadofTopEndWedding. The colourgrade,
which looks artificialwhen cast over Adelaide’surban greys,
soars when placedover the red and green top end. Tapsell,
alreadyaffableand open at the beginning,expandsamid
the beautyof the NorthernTerritoryas the film becomesa
road movie:while she looks at Lee with love, it is nothing
comparedto the way her eyes trace over the steep cliffs
of NitmilukNationalPark’sKatherineGorgefrom a gliding
boat or the cool grey water in the gulf as she stands bare-
foot on the smoothsand.
Today’sfemalerom-comleads are no longerjust hap-
less romantics.We are seeinginterestingshifts in the genre
as it entersa new era in whichwomen’sstoriesare told
differently,andTopEndWedding, for all its flaws, seemsto
be heraldingthe Australianstrandof this movement.Rom-
coms,at their heart, are about joy – and Tapsellcertainly
bringsthis joy to her first script,along with a deep love of
the genre and an interestin questioningits limitationsand
boundaries.On screen,she portraysthe film’s leadinglady
with an infectiousspirit and a formidablesmile.Watching
her work as both writer and actor, it feels like there will be
many more Tapsell-drivenromanticcomediesto come;
as in all rom-coms,it will perhaps just take a few wrong
turns before we get there.
Jane Howard is a freelance arts journalist and critic. m
Having’,TheA.V.Club, 16 March2018,<https://www.
avclub.com/after-when-harry-met-sally-almost-every-rom
-com-tried-1823690771>, accessed21 May 2019.(^2) See ‘Box OfficeHistoryfor RomanticComedy’,The Numbers,
https://www.the-numbers.com/market/genre/Romantic
-Comedy, accessed9 May 2019.
(^3) Whileblackrom-comleadsdid exist duringthis era – includ-
ing thoseplayedby GabrielleUnion,SanaaLathanand Vivica
A Fox – their storiesneverreceivedthe budgetsand subse-
quentbox-officesuccessthat moviesaboutwhitewomen
did. As casesin point,the Fox-starringTwoCanPlayThat
Game(MarkBrown,2001)madeUS$22.4millionworld-
wide from a budgetof US$13million,while the Ryan vehicle
Kate & Leopold(JamesMangold),releasedthat sameyear,
amassedUS$70.9millionwith a US$48millionbudget;see
‘TwoCanPlayThatGame(2001)’,The Numbers,https://
[http://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Two-Can-Play-That-Game#tab](http://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Two-Can-Play-That-Game#tab)
=summary; and ‘Kate and Leopold(2001)’,The Numbers,
https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Kate-and-Leopold
#tab=summary, both accessed10 May 2019.
(^4) Hoganwent on to directeventualHollywood rom-com classic
My Best Friend’sWedding(1997).
(^5) Interestingly,whileTop End Weddingis clearlyinspiredby
the last few decadesof rom-coms,the only film it directly
alludesto isDie Hard(JohnMcTiernan,1988),in the form
of a machosubplotinvolvingNed and Trevor.The two sor-
rowfuland non-machomen watchthe film and embodya
contrastto its machoism– until they need to find the strength
to get to the chapelon time, and things take some decidedly
John McClane–esqueturns.
(^6) ‘Box OfficeHistoryfor RomanticComedy’,op. cit.
(^7) TheBridgetJonesmovies (2001–2016) are perhaps a
notableexception.
(^8) The NorthernTerritoryGovernmentinvestedA$1.5million
dollarsin the film, whichit hopeswill translateto tourism
dollars;see AlexiaAttwood,‘NT GovernmentHopingTop
End WeddingMovieWill Give Tourisma BoostFollowing
Premiere’,ABCNews, 16 April 2019,https://www.abc.net.
au/news/2019-04-12/top-end-wedding-movie-hoped-to
-raise-nt-tourist-numbers/10993868, accessed 9 May 2019.
Endnotes
(^1) See CarolineSiede,‘AfterWhenHarry Met Sally, Almost
Every Rom-com Tried to Have What Nora Ephron Was
Above: Robbie, Kailah, Dana, Lauren, Father Isaac, Ned and Ronelle with Auntie Bree (Tessa Rose) and Officer Braydon (Shaka Cook)
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