Blu-ray Review: ‘Jack Irish, Set 2’

While some countries are known for exporting raw materials and others for manufactured goods, Australia is rapidly becoming known for the fine crop of actors it produces. With amazing numbers of quality performers at their disposal, it probably shouldn’t come as much of a surprise they also produce an incredible quantity of great television. FOX recently paid Australian TV  they ultimate compliment by making a U.S. version of one Australia’s funniest shows, Rake.

While some of the actors in the various Australian shows are unknown to most North American audiences, Jack Irish Set 2 stars Guy Pearce, an actor who has been popping up on North American movie screens for quite some time now. Released by Acorn Media, this second Jack Irish release comes in a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack, with each disc containing the feature-length episode Dead Point.

For those who missed “Set One”, Irish is a former barrister who quit practicing the law after his wife was murdered by one of his clients. He now works as a mix of private investigator/fixer who finds peace of mind working in a carpentry shop as an apprentice. While still haunted by images of his wife’s murder, he’s doing his best to get on with his life and has begun an on again off again relationship with a journalist, Linda Hillier. (Marta Dusseldorp) As Dead Point begins they are in the process of trying to restart their relationship and wondering about making a commitment to each other. However, no matter how much he wants it to, the past just won’t leave Irish alone.

His former father-in-law, Justice Logan, (Barry Humphries) is being blackmailed in an effort to ensure he doesn’t release a report on the connections between drug trafficking and the Melbourne shipping yards. Initially, Logan had asked Irish to find the person blackmailing him, but when that guy turns up dead, Irish then has to try and track down the incriminating evidence. The trail leads Irish down some very twisted paths into the seamier side of Melbourne society and private clubs catering to the very rich.

At the same time, Irish is also trying to solve who tried to rip off his horse racing associates, Henry Strang (Roy Billing) and Cam Delray (Aaron Pederson). Strang and Delray play fast and loose with the racing laws, and are a far different breed of people than Justice Logan. Strang is an old school crook, lives and works to a code based on respect, while Delray is his muscle. So when a woman who works for them is robbed and badly beaten, they enlist Irish’s aid in tracking down the men who assaulted her and stole money she had been carrying for them.

Strang and Delray not only act as a sort of comic relief, they also serve as a contrast to the sordid nature of the other case Irish is working on. For while they might be crooks, they make no bones about who they are and make for a refreshing change to the filth Irish finds himself swimming in trying to track down Justice Logan’s blackmailers. Billing and Pederson manage to strike just the right tone in their portrayals of Strang and Delray respectively to make us both like and enjoy watching them onscreen. You can see why Irish, the former lawyer, appreciates their company in spite of their profession. Not only do they pay well, he knows he can trust them completely and they can be counted on to be there if he needs help. Two commodities that have been in short supply in his life recently.

As Irish Pearce does some of the best acting of his career. Perhaps it’s because he’s finally been given a role which allows him to show off his depth and range as a performer. Irish is a multifaceted and complex character dealing with a multitude of issues. Pearce does a great job of managing to bring out all aspects of his personality, allowing us to see both the darkness he’s carrying with him from the past, and the hope he has for the future. Pearce has gained a certain amount of gravitas as he’s aged, and this imbues his performance with an emotional depth that was missing from his work when he was younger. Watching him in this series is to see an actor completely comfortable in his own skin, delivering an apparently effortless performance that’s a joy to watch.

The great thing about these feature-length episodes is how they give the creators of a series plenty of time to develop the show’s characters and plot lines. In Dead Point they’ve done a fine job of balancing and weaving together Irish’s personal life and the two separate cases he’s working on. None of them are given short shrift, and each makes a significant contribution to our understanding of Irish and the world he lives in. It might be dark and seedy in places, but its not without light. The show’s plots mirror the contrasts in his life and through solving the crimes he’s asked to investigate he also seems to be resolving his personal issues.

The Blu-ray disc of Jack Irish, Set 2 is up to the format’s usual high audio and visual standards, so looks and sounds great through a home theatre system. Both the DVD and the Blu-ray contain the same special features, a series of behind the scene clips of various scenes from the show. If you’re interested in that sort of thing, watching how scenes are set up and filmed, than you will probably enjoy them, but they don’t really give you any information about the making of the show. However you shouldn’t let this deter you from buying this disc, as the quality of the show far outweighs anything special features have to offer.

In recent years the world has begun to discover just how much talent resides in the island country of Australia. Their actors have been gracing stages and screens around throughout the rest of the world for the last couple of decades. Now, more and more of them are returning home to take part in movies and television shows being produced in their own country. With great acting, amazing scripts and production quality second to none, some of the best television is being made Down Under. Jack Irish, Set 2 is the latest example of how good television can be when people put their minds to it.

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