‘Australia’

“Australia” is filmmaking in the old-fashioned epic style, but only up to a point. It’s the circa 1939 story of what happens when Nicole Kidman’s British aristocrat takes over an Australian cattle ranch and locks horns with a character who’s so iconic he’s known only as the Drover (Hugh Jackman). But “Australia” is not just any blockbuster: It’s filtered through the sensibility of director Baz Luhrmann, whose last film was the dizzying “Moulin Rouge!” Luhrmann is a lover of artifice and excess. He’s got no use for old-school realism, and he brings an unapologetically over-the-top aesthetic to the table.

-- Kenneth Turan