There’s an awful lot of literal swerving in “Swerve.” People drive cars too fast down the dusty highways surrounding a tiny southern Australian town. Sometimes they almost collide, sometimes they actually do. Like people’s life trajectories, you might say.
Director-writer Craig Lahiff’s story of a man (David Lyons) who gets mixed up with an unreliable dame (Emma Booth), a mean-tempered cop (Jason Clarke) and a bag of cash is by-the-numbers noir. It’s enjoyable enough, but low on novelty, beyond the stark beauty of the sun-bleached Outback landscape.
As the town’s ethically challenged lawman, Clarke is an effective menacer; as his wife, Booth looks the part of a gorgeous possible grifter, though her efforts to be inscrutable can come off as just dull.
The film strains credulity as it hurtles toward its conclusion: Would Clarke’s character really leap onto a moving train’s roof rather than just speeding in his cop car to the next stop and boarding there?
There are charms to be had in the lineup of small-town types, like the barman who’s seen it all and the grizzled mechanic. If you’re a fan of the genre, it’ll do. Me, I can never get past the nagging question: Who finds a suitcase full of unmarked bills and thinks it’ll all end well if they take it? Hope — or stupidity — springs eternal, I guess.