I've always been a major fan of Eric Bana. A terrific actor that crossed over from his native Australia after blowing onto the scene internationally with Andrew Dominik's Chopper, he played none other than The Incredible Hulk in Ang Lee's The Hulk and then became a pretty big star thanks to Troy, Steven Spielberg's amazing Munich and more. Following his turn on the hit series Dirty John, Bana opted to return to Australia to star in an adaptation of Jane Harper's novel The Dry, which is produced by powerhouse Australian producer Bruna Papandrea (Big Little Lies, The Nightingale, and many more).
In it, Bana plays federal investigator Aaron Falk, who returns to his drought-ridden hometime to investigate the apparent murder/suicide of his best friend from childhood. The community isn't happy to see Falk back considering that as a teen, he was the prime suspect in the murder of a local girl, and everyone still thinks he did it. It's an intriguing thriller elevated by some gorgeous cinematography, sharp direction, and more. Notably, it's one of the biggest homegrown Australian box office hits of all time. My full review will be up next week, but until then here's my sit down with Bana in which we discussed Australian film, The Dry, and whether or not he'd ever play Chopper Reid again.
The Dry comes out in North America via IFC on May 28th.