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THE DISH Send This Review to a Friend
Undoubtedly "The Dish" has its most appeal in Australia, where its citizens can feel especially good about recalling the country's key role in enabling live pictures to be relayed around the world of man landing on the moon on that historic day of July 19, 1969. The real feat, of course, was the landing itself, but there is no denying the thrill that millions throughout the world felt when they gathered around television sets to watch.
Still, while perfectly charming and pleasant, "The Dish" lacks sufficient excitement to go far beyond the patriotic charge that Australians must get out of the adventure. Those who wrote, conceived and produced the film (Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner, Jane Kennedy and director Rob Sitch) take pains to dramatize the situation by depicting the crisis that nearly derailed the whole television operation. They emphasize the heroism of those who solved the last-minute obstacles and enabled the super-powerful telescope in South Wales, Australia, to send pictures of the moon landing. Helpings of humor are provided to capture the colorful portrait of scientists doing their best for the project situated on a remote sheep farm.
The story, structured around the later visit of crew leader Cliff Buxton, convincingly played by Sam Neil, to the scene of the triumph, unfolds in flashback to the glory days. It all works pleasantly and is interesting historically, yet somehow the film doesn't catch fire beyond its good nature. But if I were an Australian, I'd probably be cheering.
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