Amazing movie! Different. Captivating. Hilarious. Visually pleasing. Loved it from start to finish. Bravo!

This movie is so much more intricate, complex and brilliant than the simple trailers show. It is a masterpiece with a wonderfully original screenplay, cinematography and direction - I've never seen anything quite like it. It feels like a cross between a Wes Anderson film and a Baz Luhrmann film, but toned down slightly. And then set in a forgotten era in a tiny outback town of Australia. But that hardly describes it. It is a unique, fresh, brand new slice of cinema that satisfies a craving you didn't you know you had! With outstanding, truly touching performances from Kate Winslet and the entire supporting cast, this film is hauntingly beautiful and unforgettable.

The Aussie Outback is one of those lonesome frontiers, like the Arctic and the Southern American swampland, that we don't really see much in American cinema. We've had a few "Max Max" adventures and that 2008 film from Baz Luhrmann, but for the most part, its exploration is limited to indie films and foreign productions. And it's usually earnest and expansive, like "The Rover" taking on the wild Western genre, or it's scary and mined for horror, like in "Kangaroo Jack" -- wait, what was I talking about?"The Dressmaker" drives Kate Winslet's titular seamstress Tilly out to the middle of nowhere, her way-out-back hometown where some unspeakable horror has occurred years ago. And supposedly, she's the perpetrator, though she doesn't remember. Neither does her senile, lunatic mother Molly (Judy Davis), who rambles about possums and presumably hasn't had a bath in years.There's weirdness afoot in town as well, where every character, from Hugo Weaving's delightful cross-dressing police sergeant to the hunchbacked chemist (mind you, it's the '20s), feels like a "Twin Peaks" small-town oddity on steroids.This is all helped along by the screwball execution of a rather dark story. Reminiscent of a Tim Burton film, there's slapstick antics and clever visual gags that shove a rocket up the ass of a considerably more somber tale of clearing one's innocence and seeking vengeance on some silly town gossips. Who says we can't have fun while we're exploring one woman's dark past?Well, the script, for one. Sometimes the story gets a little too deathly for its own good, and while writer/director Jocelyn Moorhouse knows when to slow down and let these moments breathe, much of the third act decides the film has been twiddling its thumbs for too long (it hasn't) and rushes forward with many shocking developments and hurried character beats.But what a strong first two acts! Moorhouse has a knack for zany scene construction, and the montages, arguments and introductions all bear the beautiful feeling of brevity. Tilly takes up the local trailer hunk (Liam Hemsworth) on his offer for a date. Fifteen seconds, tops. Tilly momentarily decides to give up dressmaking for good. Two minutes, in and out. Bam. Done. And while sometimes, this hampers the overall flow of the film, it sets up an exuberant tone out of the gate.The problems come with tone, and with how that energy can be kept up throughout the entire film. Moorhouse commits, thank goodness, to the wackiness, and she dials the Burtonosity of it all up to 11 for some inspired scenes on top of a silo at night, in a ostensibly innocent kitchen, or in a bride-to-be's frantic rush to Tilly's doorstep.The central relationships of Tilly with the hunky Hemsworth brother (sorry, was there more to his character that I was missing?) and with her mother are given ample attention, and we feel the weight they have in Tilly's life. Winslet's soulful performance cuts through her anxiety and fear with her smiles and her tenacity, which brighten up the first act and keep the fantastical, folksy machinations of the story as grounded as possible.But unlike Burton, Moorhouse knows when to pull in the reins. Her story is by no means "Edward Scissorhands," though she tells it as if it were. "The Dressmaker" is as enamored with its endearing strangeness as it is with its characters and their history. Gorgeous shots of sunset over the Outback are given as much care and focus as the dresses Tilly crafts for the townspeople.The story itself, though, tends to divert its focus from where we want it most to be. The more fun townsfolk drop out of the story around the sagging middle of the film, and there's a sizable portion thereabouts where "The Dressmaker" suddenly doesn't have anything to do with Winslet's making dresses.But it's nothing Moorhouse doesn't try to overcome by indulging in her bizarre characters and screenplay. This isn't a bad thing at all, especially if, like me, you feel as if Hugo Weaving gets far too many serious roles and needs a good scene or two where he orgasmically heaves over fine fabric.

Warning - Potential SpoilersIf you haven't yet seen this gem of a film because its flown so far under the radar, you should consider that initially The Shawshank Redemption did exactly the same – that is until audiences discovered it and placed it firmly in most everyone's top ten best films of all time.The Dressmaker is something true movie lovers should definitely consider (I defy you not to love it so much you rush out to buy it on Blu-ray immediately afterwards) but it does come with a warning. If like me you love a good drama with a serious emotional roller- coaster built in – you will need both a stiff drink and a box of tissues close by. Set in the 1950's the film centers around a dressmaker (Winslet) who returns from a successful career in Fashion Central Europe to her Australian outback home to face her past. Accused of murdering one of her classmates at the tender young age of 10 years old, she has no real memory of the event and is determined to discover the truth behind his death in order to clear her name. The premise may not be an original one but don't let that fool you. What unfolds beyond this point becomes one of the most gripping dramas I have seen in an age. Her hometown is perhaps so far away from reality it could be set in the 1900's let alone the 1950's and what becomes very clear from the outset is the underlying currents of hatred, prejudice and sheer malevolence that have poisoned the townsfolk. As the lies and secrets start to unravel, the shock starts to set in both on screen and with the audience as the only true innocent character in the town is killed. It is at this point the story turns a corner and there is absolutely no going back as more characters succumb to their fates. This film grips its audience with every emotion felt on screen, fear, hatred, love, sadness, with genuinely powerful performances from Winslet, Davis and (surprisingly) Hemsworth. If until now you have considered this young actor to be simply eye candy, The Dressmaker will most definitely change your mind.This journey will leave you bereft of every emotion but convinced you have just witnessed possibly one of the best movies of all time.