Sweet Talker

     At Beachport Harry boards with divorcee Julie and her son David. Karen Allen is charming and appealingly energetic as Julie, providing Harry with some love to get in the way of the con. Harry's bonds quickly with David, gets the lowdown on the village from him, and spends plenty of quality time spinning tales and catching fish with the savvy ten year old boy.
     The scheme may be lightweight, but the execution is consistently brisk. Harry has everybody and their uncle looking to invest in the raising of a long lost Portuguese treasre ship. With the uncovering of the ship, Harry's vision includes a rebirth of Beachport as resort, a Disney World of the South Seas.
     Bryan Brown is a cunning Harry. There's excellent chemistry amongst all the players. Justin Rosniak is fine as David and the supporting characters of Beachport add to the joy of the film. It looks like this was a delightful production for all concerned.
     Mixing with the colorfully photographed landscapes of the seaside by Russell Boyd to present an upbeat picture of Beachport is the fine original score by Richard Thompson. The Australian flavor is evident from the opening bars and there are several excellent songs including the very appropriate "Put Your Trust in Me."
     The DVD is presented in 1.33 format. It's quite possible that it has been cropped from a 1.66 master but it does not looked overly cramped. The images are reasonably sharp, though there is a tendency for the contrast to look slightly blown out. Colors are okay. I didn't notice any enhancement artifacts. The sound is a nice Dolby 2 channel matrixed mix. The music has all the required snap. Beachport through the lens of Sweet Talker makes for some delightful summer entertainment.