The latest little film from across the ditch, Separation City could have made a competent bedroom farce. It might also have made for an interesting story about modern relationships. As it is, the film pulls off neither, instead getting itself in a tangle running in circles for 100 minutes trying to be both.

The story takes place in picture-perfect Wellington (or Tourism New Zealand’s idea of Wellington). Simon (Joel Edgerton) is overworked and undersexed. What began as a perfect marriage to Pam (Danielle Cormack) is now running low on passion, and what little is happening between the sheets disappoints and frustrates them both. The orchestra swells – and enter Katrien (Rhona Mitra), friend of Pam, an English cellist with plumped up lips and an unfaithful German husband (Thomas Kretschmann). Simon is attracted to Katrien’s vulnerability, Katrien is attracted to Simon’s reliability – we are told this and other plainly obvious matters with the aid of voice-overs – and the sexual tension escalates. After a couple of false starts, Simon and Katrien contrive to start their affair proper in Berlin, and Simon has what he thinks is his last shot at meaningful happiness.  

There are glimmers of the knockabout comedy it could have been. There are some brilliant one-liners, some funny moments and a lot of doors swinging open and shut – and a fairly humorous sequence that centres around a used prophylactic – but so much else falls flat. Writer Tom Scott is a New Zealand political cartoonist, which accounts for his eye and ear for comedy, but also might explain his preference for caricature over character. The supporting cast is comprised of them almost entirely. There’s the wise-cracking best mate, the sharp-tongued lesbian, the thickheaded firefighter, the larrikin MP, and Simon and Pam’s young daughter, dishing out the kind of gap-toothed one-note cuteness that’s adorable for a minute and then grates on your nerves.  

The main characters aren’t much more distinct or interesting either. Katrien is beautiful but painfully dull – even with the aid of the voice-over we don’t know what Simon sees in her, really – and Simon seems to carry on his merry way with nary a thought for the consequences of his actions. He and Pam don’t have an adult conversation with each another until the last 10 minutes, by which time you can feel the filmmakers clutching at loose ends and tying them up any which way.

All this is despite the best efforts of the performers. Edgerton especially makes the most of a rare sensitive guy role – he’s recently been stomping the boards as Stanley Kowalski in the Sydney Theatre Company’s Streetcar Named Desire – but it isn’t enough to save this film from being altogether forgettable. 

Separation City opens in Australian cinemas on March 4.
You can view the Separation City movie trailer here on TheVine.