Tender Hooks
Tender Hooks is a 1988 Australian romantic comedy drama film directed by Mary Callaghan and starring Jo Kennedy and Nique Needles. The film tells the story of Mitchell and Rex, a young Sydney couple who struggle with their clashing natures. It was Callaghan's first and only feature film.
Plot
In late 1980s Sydney, Mitchell Leigh is a young woman living in a run-down Manly apartment building when she falls for the mischievous and charming Rex Reeson, fresh out of jail. Their relationship is loving and sweet but turbulent, as both struggle with clashing personalities and backgrounds.While Mitchell works in a hair salon and attempts to make a life for herself and Rex, she becomes frustrated with his immaturity and tendency to fall back into criminal offending. Meanwhile their mutual friend Gayle, who grew up with Rex in state care and now divides her time between sex work and shifts at the salon with Mitchell, finds herself in a clearly violent and toxic abusive relationship. As Mitchell supports her through it, she wonders about the nature of her own more ambiguous relationship with Rex.
Eventually, Rex finds himself in jail again and Mitchell continues to support him. When he escapes shortly before the end of his sentence, Mitchell visits him as he hides out from the police in a Kings Cross hotel room and angrily confronts him about his reckless behaviour. Meanwhile, an unrelated siege is taking place which leads the police to block off the area.
Rex and his criminal friends then decide to leave Sydney and head for the North Coast. Mitchell appears to be joining them, but then gets out of the car at the last minute as they approach a police checkpoint. They share a final tender moment together and part on good terms before Mitch walks away.
As the film ends, she watches from a distance as Rex gets out of the car and speaks briefly to a police officer - who then removes a barricade, allowing them to drive on.
Cast
- Jo Kennedy as Mitchell Leigh
- Nique Needles as Rex Reeson
- Anna Phillips as Gayle
- John Polson as Tony
- Shane Connor as Wayne
- Simon Westaway as Motorcycle Cop
- Reg Mombassa
Production
Producer Chris Oliver met Callaghan at Swinburne Film and Television School in the early 70s, then crossed paths with her again in Sydney during the early 1980s. He was drawn to Callaghan's script that ultimately became Tender Hooks seeing it as an opportunity to move away from documentaries to "social realism" along the lines of Callaghan's earlier short film Greetings from Wollongong.The original inspiration for the film came from a female friend of Callaghan's who regularly visited a boyfriend in jail. Callaghan noticed that not only was he "gradually hardening" from life in prison but that her life had become "suspended" as well, meaning they were both effectively "doing time". She told The Age:
Oliver began seeking funding for the film in 1983. After a lengthy and complicated process involving multiple backers, pre-production finally began in August 1987. The shoot proved difficult for many reasons, including various technical issues and the fact that the script called for "over forty noisy, no-parking inner-city locations, many of them night exteriors, which had to be shot in 33 ten-hour days".
This was Kennedy's third feature film, having had her breakout role in the 1982 musical Starstruck then deciding to take her career in a new dramatic direction with 1985's Wrong World. Kennedy sought a "precarious" balance in depicting Mitchell, not wanting to make her seem like a victim while also trying to avoid overplaying her strength. Callaghan praised her performance, saying the subtlety of the role was achieved "not with actions... but through a kind of intelligence that crosses her face". Both cited Mike Leigh as an influence.
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, at one stage Needles and Kennedy dated in real life. They had previously appeared on stage together as siblings in the 1982 Nimrod Theatre Company production of The Kid and also both had small roles in the 1984 film The Boy Who Had Everything.
Soundtrack
The film features several songs from The Stetsons' debut self-titled album, including "Live This Way" which serves as the film's overture. Other acts featured include Paul Kelly and Ganggajang.Release
One early screening took place at UCLA in November 1988. An Australian theatrical release followed in February 1989.Tender Hooks was released on VHS in Australia in the late 1980s. In recent years, it has been issued on DVD and video on demand by Ronin Films. This version is sourced from the VHS.